Dermot Bannon Still Gets Premiere Night Nerves Ahead of ‘Room to Improve‘ Season 17

With the 17th season of Room to Improve kicking off this weekend,presenter and architect Dermot Bannon admits he still experiences premiere night nerves.

“I still get really nervous when it goes out on the air and see what people’s reaction [is],” Bannon told RTÉ Lifestyle, speaking ahead of the show’s return, which premieres on Sunday, january 4th at 9:30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.

“You don’t really relax until the last episode has aired and it’s all gone without a hitch. You never really sit down and enjoy the fact that it’s over.”

“It’s because I care. I care about what I do. I care about each project. I’ve been working on each one of these for a year. It goes out on air in an hour”, he added. “I just want to make sure that people are happy with it, and homeowners are happy with it, as they don’t get to see it beforehand.

“Now, I probably put way too much thought into it and I overthink it. But I can’t change that. Even if we were on season number 36,I’d still be the same. Those nerves are good, I think. And I think the day that you don’t have nerves is the day that you stop caring.”

Bannon explained that he views both the clients in his office and the audience at home as those he needs to impress.

Over the years,Room to Improve has evolved its approach to remain relevant to its audience while still offering inspiration,Bannon explained.

“You’re always trying to be relevant to how the country is and do projects that people can relate to. And that will change as economies go up and down”,he said.”We’re aware that housing is a huge issue in Ireland, and that homeownership and home innovations are challenging for a lot of people. So we’re trying to reflect that.”

One episode this season focuses on an older couple who are ‘rightsizing’ their home after their adult children have moved out.

Bannon said the homeowners,experienced with moves and design projects,had a clear vision but still received his direct guidance.

“They’ve done it before, but that doesn’t mean that they’re doing it right this time”, he said. The results, he said, offer inventive ways to let fami