Ulrika reveals dream home adventure

Ulrika Jonsson is featured in the latest edition of Hello! magazine talking about refurbishing her family's Oxfordshire home

Published: 12:10am, 29th August 2011
Updated: 8:29pm, 29th August 2011

TV star Ulrika Jonsson has told how she embarked on a "Grand Designs"-style dream home a decade earlier than planned - and could not imagine doing so with anyone other than her husband.

The three-times-married presenter has moved into a bespoke home in Oxfordshire which has taken 15 months to complete.

Mum-of-four Jonsson - married to art director Brian Monet - told Hello! magazine that the home had been pencilled in for a few years down the line, saying: "It was a pipedream for 10 years' time, when the kids had flown the nest."

Jonsson, who is pictured in the magazine perched on a ride-on lawnmower outside the property, added: "But as soon as we saw the garden and its position we fell in love and couldn't get it out of our heads and hearts."

The presenter opens the doors of her sleek, modern five-bedroom home to the magazine and talks about a new chapter in her life.

She said taking on the project together with Monet - whom she married three years ago - was a big commitment: "[This] felt like I was creating a home with somebody else, so that was a big thing, and quite fundamental.

"Now this feels like mine and Brian's house. I could never have done a project like this with anyone else."

Shooting Stars panellist Jonsson has been struggling with depression and a debilitating back condition, which has left her in constant pain.

The conditions, she said, did put "a huge strain" on their relationship.

"But I think I probably carried the bulk of it psychologically as I kept thinking 'how is this affecting Brian?' And Brian was like 'poor her, what can I do to help?'"