Nottingham man completes charity Homes Under the Hammer binge

18 May 2021

Liam Kirk did the challenge to raise money for domestic abuse charity Equation, which his girlfriend works for

Liam Kirk Liam Kirk — Liam Kirk did the challenge to raise money for domestic abuse charity Equation, which his girlfriend works for

A man is recovering from watching Homes Under the Hammer for 25 hours, raising more than £1,800 for a domestic abuse charity.

Liam Kirk set himself the challenge after realising there was a TV channel dedicated to the renovation programme.

The HomesUnderTheHammerthon was meant to last 24 hours, but presenter Martin Roberts offered him £100 to watch an extra episode on BBC One.

Mr Kirk said the presenters' enthusiasm kept him going.

"To be quite honest it's just sort of colours and sounds to me at this point," Mr Kirk said during the 22nd hour.

"It's quite hard for me to pay attention."

'Exceeded recommended dose'

The 31-year-old said he was a fan of the show - that has been fronted by Mr Roberts, Lucy Alexander, Martel Maxwell and ex-footballer Dion Dublin - but only usually watched one episode at a time.

"I think 22 episodes sort of exceeds the recommended dose of Homes Under the Hammer," he said.

"In one of my darkest hours in the middle of the night, there was an episode where Martin got to visit his home town of Stockton Heath, and he was very excited about it, so that helped me get through the night a little bit."

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Mr Kirk said the best thing about the programme was Mr Roberts, who then surprised him with a chat live on BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I can't believe what you're doing, you complete loony," said Mr Roberts.

As it was radio, we cannot say whether that was accompanied by his famous "invisible piano" hand gestures.

After the challenge was done, Mr Roberts added: "Well done. I hope it wasn't too much of a chore.

"I would like to think he picked up a few tips along the way."

Martin Roberts, the show's presenter, donated £100 for Mr Kirk to extend the challenge by an hour

BBC/Lion TV Martin Roberts — Martin Roberts, the show's presenter, donated £100 for Mr Kirk to extend the challenge by an hour

Under the rules of the challenge, Mr Kirk was only allowed to leave the room to use the bathroom, and he had to be sober throughout.

There was to be no using "the stairs going up to the bedroom," as Mr Dublin might put it.

He also live-streamed himself so people could watch him watching the programme, in what he described as a "very bizarre version of Gogglebox".

After recovering from the challenge, he told the BBC: "I actually enjoyed it in the end.

"One thing I had underestimated was how much the theme tune would stick in my head as I tried to sleep last night."

"There's so many different ways this money could be spent," said his girlfriend Frances Skinner, who works for Equation, which the challenge raised money for.

"He's doing all right. He's just kind of coming round from his second sleep now."