A West Cumbrian B&B will be featured on Channel 4’s popular reality show Four in a Bed tonight, and they hope to have made the Lake District proud.

Owners of the 1692, Faith and Steve Newell, hope to have impressed their guests – and audiences of the show – with their recently renovated property.

Steve, 55, and his son Allard, 22, took on the challenge after Channel 4 approached them in the hopes the family would be happy to appear on the show.

After a moment of apprehension, and thoughts along the lines of “we didn’t want to end up looking like idiots”, the Newell’s decided to go for it, and spent two weeks travelling to four different properties – playing hosts to their competitors on the group’s third trip.

The Newell's became the proud third owners of the farmhouse and attached barn 13 years ago, and opened their dazzlingly renovated B&B in May 2018, despite never considering going into the hospitality business until buying the house with derelict barns, and planners suggesting they create a business property.

Steve explained how he and Allard felt about being on Four in a Bed, and said, laughing: “We were filmed from 7am until midnight, so it was the most tiring thing I’ve ever done! But it was also really great, and we’re so glad we did it.”

He continued, speaking of how the father-son duo fancied their chances going into the competition: “We know we have a nice place, and customers really like the rooms and the area, so we thought we had quite a good chance. We weren’t overly confident though – we were just happy to be there and show everyone our B&B.”

Alongside wowing visitors and audiences with 1692 Wasdale, the Newell’s wanted to use the opportunity to advertise just how amazing West Cumbria is, and took their guests from the show to local businesses and activities, making sure they could see what the area has to offer – but you’ll have to watch their episode to find out just where they went!

Dad-of-two Steve commented on the group of B&B owners he and Allard met while on the show, saying: “We were all very lucky, because the group of us got on well and we all had a lot of fun together. Unfortunately for viewers, there weren’t any shouting matches!”

When asked if he felt the pair’s competitive side came out throughout the fortnight, Steve said: “I’d love to say no, and that our competitiveness was completely hidden, but we might seem to be slightly competitive! We genuinely weren’t out to win at any cost though, by any means. We just wanted to enjoy ourselves and be completely fair, while showing how great the West Lakes is.”

With human guests being offered a choice of five en-suite rooms, with a hot tub for guests arriving soon, their furry four-legged friends are welcome to stay in three of their ‘best rooms’: “We don’t just push people with dogs to a dark corner of the place. We want everyone to be able to stay in any of our lovely rooms, and to experience exactly the same if they stay there with their dog!”

Steve and Allard will be on our screens tonight, tomorrow and Friday at 5pm, with the results revealed on the last show. So get your fingers crossed, and hope for a 1692 Wasdale win!