At first we thought it was a scam – then we set off without even knowing where we were going

One day Chris and Paloma were working on their Cardiff renovation project, creating their dream terraced home with no experience and a very thin budget, and the next they were in a taxi going to the airport and not even knowing their destination.

They had been approached to take part in a new Channel 4 show and, after checking it wasn't a scam, they applied and were overjoyed to be selected, even though all they knew about it was they had the chance to win a chateau worth £250,000 somewhere in France.

Chris said: "The actual chateau we found out later is based in Normandy but we didn’t know that at the time – we were just told it was somewhere in France. On the day we needed to leave we got a taxi to the train station to go to London and get the plane and the driver said: ‘Are you going anywhere nice?’ and we were like: 'We don’t really know'. He was a bit confused." 

The programme is Chateau DIY: Win The Dream based on the popular Channel 4 programme Chateau DIY that follows the exploits of mainly British people renovating rundown French properties – but this spin-off series offers contestants in pairs the chance to actually win one.

The couple knew it would be an incredible opportunity to use what they have learnt updating their Cardiff home from scratch to potentially win a French chateau, competing against other couples who were mesmerised by the possibility too.

Chris said: "We were super-excited but also we thought: 'Oh my God – we’ve got our own renovation to do. How are we going to manage trying to renovated a French chateau to try and win it too?'".

The show is presented by designer, presenter, and all-round upcycling genius Max McMurdo and the format sees a round of heats towards the grand final where couples work together and then just as a pair to update rooms within the empty Normandy chateau.

But Chris and Paloma knew very little about what they had signed up for as the house, the location, and the format all remained very secretive and very exciting.

Paloma said: "We didn't see the house before we arrived – it was a complete secret, a total surprise. We literally had no idea what we were walking into. It’s such an amazing house, it is so gorgeous, and we spent enough time there to totally fall in love with it."

Chris added they felt bewildered when they first saw the chateau when they were literally standing in front of it. He saud: "It was hard to soak in that we were looking at a property we had a chance of winning.

"They told us the value of the house is about £250,000 and our Victorian terrace in Cardiff is worth about the same. How does this make sense? All this land, the house, all that comes with it."

Although the contestants could only see the space in the chateau that they were working on, and the rest of the house was kept secret, the grounds were worth exploring and added to the enchantment, including an orchard where Chris and Paloma ate lunch under the trees and charming outbuildings including a workshop where the contestants could find tools to work on their project.

The main aspect of the competition, which they would be judged on by Max and a guest judge from the original Chateau show and what could potentially see them being sent home, was the challenge to totally transform an empty room within six days and on a tight budget.

This meant finding and sourcing vintage and salvaged items to upcycle and keep within budget and timescale. The thrifty budget was not so much of a challenge as the couple had been watching the pounds back at their Cardiff renovation but the tight timing was more stressful.

Chris said: "In our renovation in Cardiff we took six months to do our bathroom and each bedroom took a month and it was two years of work for the kitchen extension. But here's a room to do in six days and here’s a very small budget. We had to split up to do it."

Paloma added: "Yes – there was definitely no decision fatigue, it was just: 'Let’s go'. So we just split up the things that needed doing. There were a couple of moments when the pressure got to us but I think the vast majority of the time we worked well together."

Many of the items featured throughout the show are from local antique, salvage, and vintage stores and charity shops and the couple were amazed at the bargains on offer. Paloma said: "It is incredible compared to what we can get here in the UK. In France they have amazing pieces – there are beautiful pieces to find everywhere."

Not only was the supply of items an eye-opener for this renovation pair but the price was too with Chris adding that they saw a stunning checkerboard table that would cost hundreds of pounds in the UK costing just 40 euros along with a wardrobe for 30.

Once the couple were over the shock of being in a sunny French chateau garden and not a rainy Welsh street they found out that the two years of renovating their home, and sharing their success and failures on their Instagram account renovatingnumberfour, was very useful – but they didn't feel too confident at the beginning of filming.

Chris said: "Initially we felt a bit of imposter syndrome – are we good enough? Are we going to crumble when the pressure is on? But we got over that and realised that we can make an amazing room in just six days so we've learnt that if we need to speed things up and make instinctual decisions at home we can still pull it off."

It could have been awkward meeting the other contestants – in essence the people who were potentially going to stop the couple from winning the chateau – but they say there was a feeling of camaraderie from the very beginning.

Paloma said: "We were really lucky that everyone was so lovely and everyone was so excited. It was a whole new world for all of us and working together was a fun way to get to know each other and hear their creative ideas."

Chris added: "Essentially you’re trauma-bonding together because no-one else can relate to what you’re going though apart from the other contestants." The couple enjoyed meeting presenter Max too and said he made the whole experience less stressful – at least for the contestants if not for himself.

Paloma said: "He’s one of the loveliest people – he was so supportive and so sweet. He was finding it hard not to help us, to be hands on during the project and as the judge, when he was doing eliminations, I think he found it quite tough, emotional, to have to say goodbye to the contestants going home."

Of course only one couple can eventually win the chateau and the only way to find out who that turns out to be is to watch the programme but the couple say that whoever is given the keys is, in their view, worthy – and it might even be them.

Paloma said: "If we were the winners the chateau would also be a wellness retreat, a respite for anyone in a job where they are care-givers and are very responsibility-heavy like emergency workers, charity and crisis workers. But also the idea would be to have it as a place where people can nominate someone from their community to come who deserves to have a week to themselves who generally don’t put themselves first."

Chris added: "Everyone had really good reasons for wanting to win the chateau, their own story of what they would do and what it would mean to them, so Max was really invested in every couple. As life-changing as it would be for us we would want to give these amazing people somewhere to have a rest and recover and that was our motivation the whole time on the show, what we were working towards."