The Secret Life of Reggie Yates | A House Tour with the Writer and Director

Hello. Hello, how are you? Very good, thank you. Good to see you. Good to see you too, good to see you too. Welcome. Thank you. You have this slight double life, don't you? Wait, what do you know? Well... What does that mean? What has your research found? So you have the media side, and then you have this obsession with buildings, design, architecture. So tell me about that, where does that come from? Okay, so the top line is being raised in an environment without very much and wanting to change your space to make you feel something. You know, I walk in here, I feel safe, I feel creatively inspired. I feel as though I'm in a showroom, I'm in the thing that I've always dreamed of having, right, when I'm here. As a kid in a council estate, that sort of journey to your safe space through a smelly staircase and neighbours that you don't want to talk to but you have to interact with because you live on top of each other. And then you get in this West African hub where the place is always hoovered. There's always food in the fridge, something's always getting cooked for some reason. And then in that, you have your little bubble. I was the kid that basically moved around my room once a week because I wanted it to feel different and I wanted it to feel fresh at all. I would just move the bed, move my desk and move the one chair. And so I moved out super early, I moved out a lot younger than any of my friends. I bought my first house at 18 because I was working and it was a lot cheaper then and you only need to put 5% down or whatever it was. And I was renovating homes from the age of 18. And with every property, it's just seven-year-old me moving furniture around again and trying to enjoy that process of being somewhere that I can really enjoy normally. And at 18, I started off the back of referencing things that I saw in our decoration and literally bought it every single month. And then by the time I finished this place, they wanted to come and shoot my home. So it was one of those real full circle, I'm going to try not to cry moments, but it was kind of cool. The previous family that owned this house were lovely. It was a Jamaican family with a ton of kids. So much so that everywhere I go, people go, Oh, you bought the Colliard house, didn't you? You live in the Colliard house. I used to play football in that garden when I was a kid. I love that house. Anyhow, the father of the family used to tinker a lot and he built these old sort of rooms that were an extension, but one million percent self-made. And there was like a tree growing out of one of them. It was just crazy. And that footprint allowed us to continue the house into the back with relatively easy planning. You know, we're in a gorgeous Victorian tree-lined street full of homes that have been here for hundreds of years. So to honour that with repointing the front and giving it a new lease of life, you know, bringing the bricks back and redoing the stairs and relaying the lovely tiling on the entrance, all of those details are really important to get right on the facade. But in the internal spaces, I feel as though I've at least kept one room that honours what this was, but also fully embraces what it could be in a modern context. So on the other side of this archway is the door to the basement. Okay. And having a damn good carpenter is something that I've learned over the years. And my great carpenter decided to make a pocket door that would act as both the fire door, but also the door to the basement. Oh, that's so clever. So when you close this, it basically closes off the basement door as well. That's genius. He was very pleased with himself when he realised we could use one piece and make it pocket. That kind of worked out. When we dug up the front garden, there were actual cow bones out there. Now, my mum is probably going to panic when she hears that because she's going to swear to me it's fricking voodoo. But I believe in these houses, you would have butchers sort of in sometimes in the basements and they would work there and they would just throw out what they didn't need. I bought it with the view to start a family here that hasn't quite happened yet. But what I had to reframe this place as being in my mind's eye was a hub for my community, for my village. The minute I was able to do that, I was able to make peace with what this place has become. And that is not my little kids running around it just yet, my nieces and nephews, of which I have 13. And having them here at Christmas or on my 40th birthday last year and just having a house full of good energy and love and laughter is what this has become. If you've got a lot of people in the house, people sort of break away to different areas and the more you see, the more you'll clock that there's little pockets where people can gather. I'm very lucky, I have a gorgeous set of friends, guys and girls, and when my pals are here for some reason, this is the area where people sit, lean in and just bitch. Christmas is amazing because all the kids go in the cinema and they're in there watching Nemo or whatever and you just forget that they're here and suddenly you've got Uno happening at this table, you've got people debating over who's making the best turkey in the kitchen and nobody feels like they're on each other's toes. It's lovely when you have it in a family context but when it's friends, it's like I'm hosting a game for the World Cup or something. It's just really gorgeous that the village that defines me and has helped shape me have a place to congregate. I'm from a very traditional West African family and culture is music, food, oral history, all of these things, and they all have existed in this space. Even though it feels very contemporary, there is ancient tradition that has happened in these walls that has not only kept me sane but kept me on the right path, advised me, made me laugh, fed me, done so many really soulful things and they've all happened in this home. It's really lovely. I can't see this black square. It makes me angry. I can't see the screen. It's just like, oh, that's work. I don't want to see work in my kitchen. Can we go look at a massive screen? Yeah! Oh, the everyman. This room has possibly the best sound I've ever had in a home. And did you do a premiere of your movie in here? No, no, this screen wouldn't have been big enough. I've got way too many excitable friends that wanted to see it at once. In fact, it was awesome. It's funny you ask. We did the premiere of my film at Brixton Ritzy, which was a place that I went to in my childhood and loved, and they put my name on the big banner outside. That might not mean much to a lot of people, and there was an option to do a big central London thing, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted to premiere the film in a place that meant something to me, and as someone who went there for the first time to see Blair Witch on a date at 14 years old, You're romantic. Wow, man. Me and Natalie Edwards, at 14, went there to go and watch Blair Witch. When you're looking at a piece of furniture or an artwork or an object or something, what are you looking for, do you reckon? There is no way to answer that question without sounding like a massive douchebag. Go on, do it. That's why I asked. Thank you for setting me up. You know, I'm looking for something that speaks to me, man. Oh, God, without sounding like a massive sausage, it is that, isn't it? It's something that speaks to you. Every piece I have in the house is a motive. I've obviously got to ask you about your photography. Yes, yeah, yeah. Because they're just fantastic. Thank you. Are they all by the same person? No, it's a mix. So throughout the house, there's some stuff that I've shot. There's also stuff like here from Katherine Ireland. But through here, I've got a piece from a friend of mine called Joshua Kissy, and this was a gift after going to his wedding. I went out to New York when he married his gorgeous wife, and he said thank you with some photography, which is really sweet. Art for me and photography and things that you furnish your home with are emotional choices because you live with them. And, you know, all you have to do is move a piece to realise how much energy it emits and also what it does to a space or doesn't do if it detracts from it. If it doesn't say something or doesn't make me feel something, it's not going on the wall. When I see this picture, I just think of me and my brother. The energy that this sort of emits without sounding all woo-woo about it, it just feels familial. It feels safe. It feels trusting. It feels warm. It feels silly and joyous. Like, we're very silly. My family, we're very silly. We love to laugh. And there's something about this that's just silly but also very sweet and very much about trust. And, yeah, this is me and Cogman. Which one are you? I'm the one on the back. So you're the younger? I think I am. And the thing is, I don't think he quite realises it because I'm the big brother and I love him and support where I can and I have his back. But he definitely, in the last five to six years, has not only come into his own and, if I'm going to be really honest, I think we swap roles. Right now, I'm definitely on his back and he's been amazing for me in recent years. But we definitely take turns. The big thing here is this sort of polished plaster look-a-likey finish. So it's like 30 layers of paint that's super thin that you have to sort of work into over and over again and my painters absolutely hated because they were like, first coat. I'm like, this is super thin, what are we doing? I'm like, no, no, you've got to put like 10 more coats. Okay. No, no, we don't want to do that. But, ultimately, you get this lovely finish that kind of feels like plaster. And, again, it's that thing of big walls, crazy volumes, crazy size Victorian room heights that you just soften with textures. This is something that I absolutely adore. I've got a few of these around the house. It's a skate deck that also sort of doubles as a really beautiful piece of art. And, again, it's like a nod to my past as a kid that never quite became the superstar skater that I wanted to be. When my nieces come, sometimes they take over this room. There's like a reading nook and all of the Babe and Ape stuff is just gifts from the Bape guys because, at one point in my life, I lived in that store, you know. People give you stuff a lot, don't they? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I just, you know, I look like I need all the help I can get. You know, when you move on from this place, which you eventually will, probably the furniture won't mean a lot to you. As you say, you'll probably change it. But all these things that people have given to you, they have emotional value, don't they? It's quite a different thing. An office or some sort of space to house. A lot of these trinkets will probably be the space for it. But, again, they very much represent my 20s and, in places, maybe my early 30s. But today, he says, we're in a fluffy, bright green cardigan. But, yeah, again, it's funky, Grandpa. It's a cardigan, but it's bright green. It's coming trendy, Grandpa. It's gone minty. Every day does have Richard in it for me. I'm up at five most days. I work out straight away, and then I steam, get my head together, I have some tea, I'll go for a walk, and all of this will be done by, like, 7.30. And then I've got loads of time to whack some music on and have throughout the house, make a breakfast. If I'm fasting and I'm not doing that on that day, I'll take loads of time to pick out what I'm going to wear. I've got the room for it. Yeah. And then, if I'm writing, I'll be in the office, or I'll be sat here, just looking out to the garden, and that lasts hours. This is basically my old man space. You know, like, people talk about that idea of the old man out front with his cane waving at the kids in the street. This is the old man who is sitting, looking at his yard, maybe reading a book, and listening to Miles Davis. I have my mornings in here because, you know, this is east-facing, and it's just really gorgeous being, sort of, sat at that bay window with a tea as the sun is rising. I'm an early riser, so I get up early, I work out, I steam or something, and then I'll chill and have a tea here. And to have this whole room sort of glow orange as the sun rises, it's just the coolest. This is my gym. Oh, cool. Is this a physical thing or is it a mind thing for you? I mean, it's a really good question because for me it's more of a mind thing. The repetition of a workout or an exercise or perfecting a movement, whatever it is, it's something that I love because it's so distracting from the things that I have to think about for the lion's share of the day. So to be able to just sort of take your mind out of work, take your mind out of whatever it is that you're doing, and focus on this one thing, get lost in music playing, and just really zero in, that's why I love this space. And yeah, the problems start the minute you leave this room. So it's like a nice little sanitary, you know? This is a room where I get dressed in, where I keep my shoes, where I keep my clothes. It's that thing of wanting to feel as though you're in a space that is perfect and unblemished and just polished. And it helps you feel polished as you leave. I'm single at the moment but in those moments when I do have a girlfriend, it's been just so nice to sort of have the two of you at the sink brushing together. It's like one of the sweetest things that I've found, particularly in my last relationship, like at night just when you're brushing that ritual, again that ritual of brushing your teeth with your partner talking about your day at the same sink. There's just something really unifying about it. He must be a bit of an exhibitionist, Reg, because there's nothing at these windows and there's the neighbours, right? You're going to see this arse. If you're my neighbour, you're going to see this arse. Today is somebody who writes and directs and I rewrite a lot of other people's films and screenplays. I'm at this desk a lot or I'm at my kitchen table just with my laptop just working away. There's a lot to be said for having a nice view in those moments where you're trying to think of the next thing. You're just sort of sat there like, oh, how do I get out of this? Snookered myself. Tell me about the paint here. You've got this datum sort of halfway up the wall, isn't it? Yeah, it's that thing of workspaces, isn't it? There was definitely a few classrooms for me at school that had this. Maybe there is a part of me that looks at this room and thinks, this feels a bit like the rooms you had to do work in and I kind of like that because to sort of have a room where you can close the door knowing that what happens on the other side of that door is work and everything that happens outside and beyond is home, I think it's quite important. So interesting. This is a sanctuary for me and I get how lucky I am because I'm a kid from a council estate. I've had quite a visible career and I've shared my growing up with people I don't know, you know, across the UK which is a very strange thing to experience but there's a lot of beauty in that. This house definitely represents a safe space to step away from the public persona, step away from who people know me to be and for me to fully be who I actually am and also embrace what I can be for this next chapter because it's easy to get caught up in this idea of wanting to be forever young doing the job that I do. This place means so much to me in that I left behind my life on camera while I lived here and I started my life behind the camera also as this place came to really take shape. I think if you're not part of a community you're missing out on something and I have that in my area. I have that in the people that come in and out of my front door and because of the nature of what I do for a living I have that with strangers as well and I choose for it to be joyous as opposed to the alternative and also the best thing about living on your own and being part of a community is that you can close the door and kick them out. On that note. Yeah, exactly. You can say goodbye which is brilliant especially with their kids. You can get in your steam room now we're off. Yeah, get out. I'm going to go watch a film. Leave me alone. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. I really enjoyed that. Thank you very much. It was good. Lovely to have you round. Good to see you. Take it easy man. See you soon. Take care. I'm going to keep on going.