I live in a special street with just a handful of houses off the Boltons, a conservation area in Kensington and Chelsea. My husband [Antony “Tiggy” Mayhew, a hedge fund manager] bought the house before we were married, with the view to turning it into a family home. It was bombed in the war and had a crevice running through the middle, so we stitched it back together. We’ve raised our two children [Ophelia, 18, and Orlando, 16] here, so it’s full of happy memories.

Why Chelsea?

It’s beautiful and it’s like living in a small village within the city. I know all my neighbours. And I know the people in my local coffee shop and M&S.

Juliet Mayhew's home, with a pale facade and black iron fence, seen from the street.

Chelsea is like a village within the city, Mayhew says of her neighbourhood

What’s your interiors style?

I’m Australian, so I wanted a fresh, modern, sunshine feel. We have beautiful antiques but I’ve mixed them up with colour and fun. My neutral colour palette is punctuated with colourful Missoni fabrics that make me happy.

Have you designed other people’s homes?

I’m an actress and singer first and foremost, but I’m also a trained interior designer and run a bespoke carpet business. I’ve designed a gym for a private members’ club in Mayfair and many private homes, from a French château to a luxury house in Palm Beach, Florida.

Juliet Mayhew's sunlit living room with a large sofa, colorful cushions, and glass doors opening to a garden.

Mayhew’s home has a “fresh, modern, sunshine feel”

The kitchen of "The Real Housewives of London" star Juliet Mayhew with a set table on a marble counter and pink chairs.

The kitchen features bright pink breakfast chairs

Juliet Mayhew of *The Real Housewives of London* sitting on a kitchen counter, holding a "GUCCI" mug.

Mayhew is a trained interior designer

PHOTOGRAPHER: ROB SANDERSON; STYLIST: MAGGIE COLVIN

Were you prepared for on-screen squabbles when you joined The Real Housewives of London?

It was like filming a wildlife documentary gone wrong; like entering a pen with five killer animals who hadn’t been fed for a month. We squabbled about all the things people love to hear women argue about: clothes, men, weight and food. I felt like a deer in the headlights. You’ll see me eating more than every other housewife. I shoved food in my mouth so I didn’t have to speak.

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Did you feel pressure to look good for your close-up?

This is a show for the gays and the girls, and its broadcast globally, so you know viewers are going to judge you for every hair out of place and every morsel of food stuck in your teeth. I have facials every fortnight. I’m a big fan of polynucleotide injections and collagen boosts. If you work out a lot everything goes south, so you’ve got to keep it fresh.

Isn’t a show about six super-rich women a bit tone-deaf during a cost of living crisis?

Viewers should see it as escapism rather than us rubbing people’s noses in it. We’re making an entertainment show, not a current affairs programme. But you can’t go through life not looking left and right. I don’t ignore the fact that a lot of people are struggling to put food on the table.

Juliet Mayhew, Amanda Cronin, Karen Loderick-Peace, Nessie Welschinger, Juliet Angus and Panthea Parker promoting "The Real Housewives of London."

Mayhew with her co-stars: Amanda Cronin, Karen Loderick-Peace, Nessie Welschinger, Juliet Angus and Panthea Parker

ANTONY JONES/GETTY IMAGES FOR HAYU

Where did you grow up?

I spent my childhood in Queensland, one of the most magnificent parts of Australia. We lived where the rainforest meets the coral reef. Growing up as a country girl pretty much in the middle of the rainforest was special. My first childhood home was a stunning Spanish-style house in Mareeba [a small town in northeast Queensland], set in five acres. We had a rodeo and my childhood was spent running barefoot, climbing trees and riding wild horses.

What took your parents to Mareeba?

My dad was the local doctor. Later he became Queensland’s chief medical officer and we moved to Kuranda and Cairns. I travelled with my parents on medical and humanitarian aid trips around the world. We walked across the foothills of the Himalayas to reach refugee camps in Myanmar at the height of the civil war there. It was pure carnage. It affected me to my core.

Aerial view of Mareeba, a rural community near a river with a railway bridge and fields in the background.

Mareeba in Queensland, Australia, where Mayhew grew up

GETTY IMAGES

Why did you leave Australia?

I won a scholarship, aged 12, to attend Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire. I went from riding brumbies [wild horses] in the outback to wearing white gloves and curtsying in an old Rothschild mansion. It was tough being thousands of miles away from home, but I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t gone to Tring.

Juliet Mayhew is co-founder of Go-Coco, which produces a laundry detergent using only natural ingredients. The company supports women rescued from sex trafficking in Haiti and the Dominican Republic; go-coco.co.uk