Peter Irvine, an Interior Design Masters competitor, confessed he was ‘heartbroken’ after his elimination.
The 34-year-old from Belfast was one of the final five candidates on Alan Carr’s BBC One challenge, but she was unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
The episode saw Peter work his smallest space yet – a 1930s beachside chalet in Eastbourne, however, he failed to impress and left the competition, tearfully saying afterwards: ‘I am super proud of myself, I challenged myself and took risks, and couldn’t have foreseen how massive this would change my life’.
His specification called for a’multi-generational family-friendly bolthole,’ but Peter’s design was compared to a ‘railway carriage’ by special adjudicator Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen.
In an exclusive interview with Metro.co.uk, Peter confessed he was ‘heartbroken’ about his removal, saying: ‘I’ve been in this challenge the whole time from a really thankful mentality, so of course I continue with that and leave with that.
‘It was so tough because I feel like I did my best, and I feel like it was maybe enough to get through and that’s okay, I’m here to take criticism and if that’s what send me home.
‘But, it was just heartbreaking, because I was so proud of that space, and I knew I worked hard.’
He added that his best not being ‘enough’ became a ‘harsh reality’.
‘I feel like the reason I was sent home wasn’t big enough,’ Peter, who applied for the previous series before being urged to apply again for the current one, added.
‘There were occasions where people were sent home for a good big valid reason and I feel like that week was like, “Okay, I know, my chair shouldn’t impose over a doorway, It’s a wide enough doorway”.
‘It never affected how the space was used. Plus the space couldn’t even be touched from side to side. Could I not be excused? For something that’s slightly like two or three inches too big?’
Peter considered the size of the couch to be his “one critical mistake” for the week.
The judges had previously mentioned Peter’s wall mural, but the artist persisted on sticking to his scope.
He told us: ‘It was brought up by the mural, but I read my brief, and I know what was in it. That’s what my client asked for.’
‘I don’t think some of the criticism that came back at me was valid, requesting a vintage floral that wasn’t asked for in my brief, and it wasn’t asked to be respectful of Brighton and so therefore, I didn’t respect Brighton,’ he added.
‘My space requested to seat eight people, and I think I counted 14 seats within that space, so it’s kind of like “Okay, because I gave you a bit more could you not forgive that?”
‘I feel like the judging was really harsh that week.’
Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr continues on Tuesdays at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.