Behind the BUILD

TV Times joins DIY SOS stars NICK KNOWLES and GABY BLACKMAN in Essex as they team up with some East-Enders favourites on a special project

DIY SOS: EASTENDERS SPECIAL

MONDAY, 8 PM (TIMES VARY), BBC1 FACTUAL

It’s a rather different day at work for TV Times, as we don a hard hat, pink high-vis jacket, and steel-to-ecapped boots to head to a mud-strewn building site in Harlow, Essex, where a festive episode of BBC1’s DIY SOS is being filmed.

The instalment sees members of the EastEnders cast swap propping up the bar of Queen Vic for pushing wheelbarrows as they join presenter Nick Knowles and the team to turn a disused property into a vibrant community hub for Butterfly Effect Wellbeing, a charity founded in 2019 to support those experiencing mental health issues.

We soon spot actor Perry Fenwick, AKA Albert Square’s Billy Mitchell, helping to transform the area’s garden space alongside other hardworking tradespeople and volunteers – several of whom are wearing reindeer-antler headbands and tinsel!

Taking a break from marshalling the troops, Nick, 61, and the show’s resident interior designer, Gaby Blackman, 50, joined us for a chat about how the project is going…

Why does Butterfly Effect Wellbeing need help?