They say that when it comes to buying a house, it’s all about the location, location, location. There’s even a Channel 4 property programme bearing that very name.
But it seems that one of the show’s presenters, Kirstie Allsopp, might look for more than that when choosing a property – namely, sufficient space to keep a washing machine separate from the kitchen.
Responding to a US journalist’s comment that Americans find British people’s insistence on keeping washing machines in the kitchen “confusing”, the brunette mother of two, 45, tweeted: “It is disgusting, my life’s work is in part dedicated to getting washing machines out of the kitchen.”
And (naturally) her remarks prompted a backlash on Twitter.
“#KirstieAllsopp needs to realise that it’s down to space,” wrote one observer. “Most folks don’t have places as big as hers #WelcomeToTheRealWorld”
“It must be mystifying to #kirstieallsopp that some house dwellers don’t have enough money to live in a house with a utility room or scullery,” scoffed another.
One made a reference to Allsopp not appearing in her Location, Location, Location co-presenter Phil Spencer’s show Find Me A Home, tweeting: “Kirstie was too busy moving her washing machine to the servants’ wing, cursing the poor as she did so.”
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All of which obviously riled the London-born presenter, as she quickly hit back.
“Look you bunch of total [bleep], IF POSSIBLE having a washing machine out of the kitchen frees up space, if not possible no big deal.”
She continued to reply to countless tweets throughout the following day insisting she had been making a joke and wasn’t entirely serious.
However, not everyone disagreed with Allsopp’s comments. One person replied: “Although I’m not repulsed enough to vomit like #kirstieallsopp I do think laundry and kitchens should be separate. #washingmachinegate”
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This isn’t the first time that Allsopp has courted controversy with her actions.
Last year she got into a Twitter spat with Kay Burley over Sky News’s reporting of George Michael’s death.
And she previously caused a stir when she said if she’d had a daughter she would have advised her to shun university in order to buy a home and have babies.
Allsopp is in a relationship with property developer Ben Andersen. The couple have two sons, and Allsopp is also stepmum to Andersen’s two children from a previous relationship.