BBC property gurus poached by Channel Five

Channel Five has poached the BBC’s Million Pound Property Experiment design gurus Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan.

The Scottish duo became household names when they set about converting £100,000 (€149,300) into £1m (€1.5m) by climbing up the property ladder – snapping up bargain homes and renovating them for profit – on BBC2 last year.

McAllister, 36, and Ryan, 37, have been promised peak-time property, entertainment and lifestyle programmes in the two-year exclusive deal with Five.

The property experts, who have been partners for 18 years, will begin working with Five, which previously landed other BBC names like Carol Smillie and Clive Anderson, later this year.

A source said: “The BBC was caught off guard. They didn’t have an exclusive contract with them and we’ve snapped them up.”

McAllister and Ryan’s previous credits include the BBC1 daytime series Trading Up in the Sun, an overseas spin-off which helped people buy homes in France, Spain and Cyprus.

They were also veterans of the BBC1 makeover series Housecall.

Today the pair said: “We are delighted to be joining Five at this exciting time and are looking forward to the challenges and opportunities our new relationship offers.”

Five’s Controller of Features and Entertainment Ben Frow, who joined Five last year after producing some of Channel 4’s biggest hits, said he was “delighted” with the deal.

“I think they are exceptional talent who have proven they can punch through and become talk-about television.

“They have the ability to get noticed, and elevate their programmes from the ordinary into something a bit special,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to being able to develop their profile further over a wide range of programmes.”