EXCLUSIVE: The Great British Bake Off star has been inspired by her new role on BBC’s Escape To The Country.
Escape To The Country star Briony May Williams has revealed how the show has inspired her(Image: BBC)
Escape To The Country star Briony May Williams has revealed the BBC programme has inspired her to move away from Bristol.
The 40-year-old presenter rose to fame on series nine of The Great British Bake Off in 2018, finishing in fourth place before making regular appearances on the likes of Food Unwrapped, Morning Live and Escape To The Country.
“I love working on Escape To The Country, it’s just such a pleasure to work on. The crew, the people, the buyers, the whole experience is wonderful, and the bits of the country that we get to see are incredible,” she revealed in an exclusive interview.
Briony May Williams rose to fame after appearing on the Bake Off in 2018(Image: Getty)READ MORE: ITV Love Island All Stars series three line-up update as show ‘villain’ rules out returnREAD MORE: BBC The One Show star announces ‘show first’ as they admit ‘we’ve never asked this’
The cherished programme has taken her to parts of the country she’s not seen before and given her the opportunity to develop her passion about property.
“I like to sit on Right Move and look at houses, and before Escape I was very much the person who did everything, like found the house and did the tours, decided what was going to go where and the same with family,” she said.
The mum-of-one explained she was “heavily involved” with helping her family members move house and it was something that left her “excited and interested”.
Briony, who lives in Bristol but spent parts of her childhood at her grandparents’ home in the countryside, went on: “I feel very comfortable and happy there, I’ve definitely learnt a lot more about property over the last few years as well, which has been wonderful for me, it’s a learning experience for everyone.”
Briony is now a presenter on Escape To The Country(Image: BBC/Naked West/Fremantle)
Her experience has even led to wanting to move to the countryside herself, as Briony laughed and explained: “I’m desperate to move out to the countryside, get a load of rescue dogs, a donkey and an alpaca.”
She continued: “I’ve been fully influenced by working on Escape and seeing the joy and the type of lifestyle people have, and seeing those people who have moved there.”
Having kept in touch with several of the guests on the show, she’s even more inspired to move.
“I love the idea of living in the country, but sadly, my husband and daughter aren’t quite ready yet, so I just keep chipping away a little bit. I think I like being near my mum as well and she’s getting older, but it might be something that happens maybe in the next 10/15 years for me, or in retirement maybe.”
Briony is ready to move to the countryside after being inspired by the show(Image: @GloriouslySober Instagram / Briony May Williams)
Briony elsewhere reflected on her presenting role on Escape To The Country, saying: “I think it’s part of my personality that I just get along with people so that works really well for Escape because you’ve got these people going on this incredible journey, it’s really nerve-wracking for them, obviously, because they are actually moving house.
“This is genuine, it’s not just for telly. I think it’s nice to have someone there who can support them and bring out the best in them and help them enjoy the experience as much as possible.”
Looking ahead to her future on TV, Briony confessed she would love to carry on doing what she does now.
She said: “I’d love to keep working on Escape, and I think Escape is just going to keep going because it keeps getting better and better.”
Briony teased the latest series of Escape To The Country(Image: Getty)
She went on: “It keeps changing with the times and developing and moving with the viewership and I think that’s really important, so I’d love to still be doing that.”
Teasing what to expect from the latest new series, which sees Strictly Come Dancing star Richie Anderson join the line-up, she added: “Just loads of incredible properties, and a real variety of properties as well. Things like eco-houses, eco-new builds, they’re incredible – you’ve obviously got the classics, like the converted barns and the Thatcher cottages but you’ve also got so many different types of interesting properties.”
She continued: “The budgets are starting from £250,000 this year which is great, I think people will be really surprised at what you can get for that budget.
“And just lots of tips and advice for people who are thinking about moving to the countryside, whether it’s to rent or buy and giving people all those options.
“It’s the same old gorgeous Escape but it’s moved with the times, it’s progressing and it’s very 2025.”
Escape To The Country airs weekdays at 3pm on BBC One and is available to watch on iPlayer, with new episodes airing on Mondays.