Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Reveals Grim Death Tape News Left His Wife in Tears but He’s Just Chuffed to Still Be Relevant

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has opened up about the bizarre and slightly morbid moment he was told his celebrity “death tape” had just been re-edited for TV — and while it brought his wife to tears, he couldn’t help but feel flattered.

The 60-year-old interior design icon admitted he was told quite casually that The One Show had gone back and updated his posthumous tribute package, which left him thinking: “Oh thank God – I’m still relevant – and actually not only that – it’s been re-cut, I’m still moving.”

He recalled the odd exchange with a director who dropped the news in passing. “He said ‘oh my wife is high up at The One Show and they’ve just re-cut your death tape’. And I was going ‘Ok… that’s slightly grim’”, reported the Manchester Evening News.

But while Laurence managed to take it in his flamboyant stride, his wife Jackie was visibly shaken. “We were having lunch with my wife and daughter – my wife burst into Victorian tears,” he said, describing her emotional reaction in true Laurence fashion. His daughter, on the other hand, wasn’t fazed at all and just replied: “Oh great I love The One Show.”

Laurence, who nearly died during a water stunt while filming Netflix’s Celebrity Bear Hunt with Holly Willoughby and Bear Grylls, says conversations about his death have now become a regular thing. “The topic comes up all the time,” he admitted.

The close brush with death has clearly got him thinking, and like many people hitting 60, he’s started asking himself how he’d like to be remembered. But he’s not getting too sentimental about it. In fact, he’s joked in his Sunday Times column that when he goes, he’d rather be “put out with the bins and recycled as quickly as possible,” because he “simply cannot bear the way crematoriums are decorated.”

He’s even said he’d be up for doing a full design overhaul of one. “Why the hell not? I’d love to do up a funeral parlour or something of the sort,” he said, clearly unfazed by the idea.

Still, when it comes to leaving a legacy, Laurence hopes to be remembered not just for his over-the-top designs and TV flair, but for something a little closer to home. His recent renovation project in the Cotswolds, Eleven Bibury, is a collaboration with Lady Anne Evans and has transformed the old village post office into a new community hub with a restaurant and shop.

The club is pitched as a stylish, inclusive alternative to the posh and polished members-only haunts like Soho Farmhouse, and Laurence didn’t hold back in describing those types. He called them “patronising” with “a thin veneer of countryside and a couple of wellington boots strewn around.”

His creative chemistry with Lady Anne has clearly been a highlight. “I’ve never had the opportunity to let rip before meeting this creature, so she’s completely ruined me for all other clients,” he said.

If there’s one thing he wants to be judged on, it’s this. “If there’s one design scheme just taken on its merits – it would definitely be this.”

Laurence may joke about death, but if his recent work is anything to go by, he’s far from done leaving his mark.

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