Ten years since Location, Location, Location first began, C4 presenters Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp tell Kate Whiting why they’ve come to truly appreciate one another.

KIRSTIE Allsopp and Phil Spencer have got more reason than most to celebrate this Christmas: they’ve notched up an incredible ten years as presenters of Channel 4 property show Location, Location, Location.

“We were very lucky because we were the first property programme and had the pick of the formats,” says Spencer, 40, modestly.

“Everybody moves house at some point and it’s always scary and stressful when there’s money at stake. We like watching people going through those emotions and we’re all nosey and like looking around other people’s houses. We’ve always maintained that house-hunting should be fun – it’s the biggest shopping trip of your life.

But the most important thing is that we actually find the right houses.”

Over the years, the pair have branched out on their own – Allsopp has been presenting another series of Kirstie’s Homemade Home, while Spencer’s currently in Australia filming the second series of Relocation: Phil Down Under.

But they both admit they prefer working together – and it’s their on-screen chemistry that makes them so watchable, as the recent showing of Kirstie And Phil’s Perfect Christmas has proved.

“Basically I don’t like working without Phil and he doesn’t particularly like working without me,” says Kirstie, 39.

“Last year, we were making Locations and I kept going off to film Christmassy stuff and coming back with glitter in my hair, so this year Phil said, ‘Right, that’s it, if you’re going to do another of these shows, you’re doing it with me.’”

Allsopp admits she had a touch of the green-eyed monster on their first day of filming, when Spencer went to Thorntons’s chocolate factory.

“It was grossly unfair!” she shrieks. “I have slaved at the coalface of craft television for nearly two years, and Phil comes in and the first thing he does is go and see chocolate reindeer being made.”

Spencer admits the property market is a very different place now from what it was in 2000: “We’ve seen really dramatic shifts in both directions. The reality is if you can’t borrow money, you can’t move house and if you can’t move house, then prices fall and nobody moves. So down prices came.

“Kirstie and I have always talked about buying for the long term and adding value while you’re there. People are really taking that on board now, and there’s been a change in attitude. It’s not just an investment, it’s a home and it might be a home for a long time, so choose wisely.”

One of the special programmes, Phil And Kirstie’s Homes For Heroes, sees them helping soldiers to find their dream home: “All of them are military couples, so both are serving soldiers. Whether you agree or disagree with what the military are up to, they’re putting their lives at risk for our benefit. We met some incredible people who had been badly injured, but were able to be positive,” says Spencer.

Spencer says he felt the pressure to find a house more than ever before, adding: “You can’t say ‘Sorry it didn’t work out’.

You’ve got to deliver.”

As well as one-off programmes, there will also be out-takes as well: “I’m sure there’ll be quite a lot of swearing,” he chuckles.

“The shows we make together are genuine.

They’re not scripted – and Kirstie is absolutely belligerent in being honest. You know when she’s upset, when she’s happy or angry – she can’t help but display her emotions.

“People have seen our relationship develop over ten years so they know we love each other and we argue and bicker like best friends do. But we get on and respect each other, and we prefer working together than apart.”

That said, Spencer will be back on his own again in January, in a new series of Relocation: Phil Down Under.

“It’s much more intense filming on my own,” admits the father-of-two. “It’s tough being away from family and there’s a lot of travelling. But this year my family are coming out as soon as I’ve finished filming, so we’re going to have an Australian Christmas.”

■ 10 Years Of Location, Location, Location, C4, Wednesday