THROUGH THE KEYHOLE

When Sarah Jones, the Shadow Minister for Housing was interviewed on Sky News about testing for coronavirus, there was more chat on social media about her vinyl collection. The recently formed Twitter handle @BCredibility ‘what you say is not as important as the bookcase behind you’ has 76k followers.

Since lockdown began, we’ve watched politicians, presenters, even princes talking on TV about everything from coronavirus and the state of the nation, to our NHS heroes and other very important issues.

But who, like me, isn’t distracted from the main point by the background? I spend more time wondering whether the scientist on my screen has had a loft conversion, or why the MP making a serious point didn’t think to tidy his bookshelves.

Why is nosing so compelling? To scoff at their bad taste or even get some interior design ideas? Or is it that a look inside someone’s home is a glimpse into their psyche?

Book choices are especially tasty offerings. That’s why I was so disappointed during the VE Day commemorations to see that historian Dan Snow’s bookcases were HALF EMPTY! I’d fully expected his man cave to have every hard back from Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to Max Hastings’ tome on the Vietnam War.

Channel 4 presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy told the Guardian online that he spent a night rearranging his living room to avoid showing books which included Charlie and Lola!

JO HENWOOD REFLECTS ON A GROWING OBSESSION – VIRTUAL HOUSE SNOOPING. COULD IT BE SHE’S NOT ALONE?

Talking of kids, I was excited at the prospect of getting a peep at William and Kate’s Anmer Hall home for their interview on home schooling George and

Charlotte. It quickly turned to dismay when it became evident the Royals were in the scullery, with not so much as a calendar on the wall!

In contrast I loved Royal correspondent Roya

Nikkah’s setting for glorious isolation – a chic, modern townhouse with a feature wall worthy of Homes and

Gardens. Likewise

Captain (or should I say

Colonel) Tom’s not too shabby back yard.

This new pastime throws up surprises too. Who’d have thought that First Minister of Ireland Arlene Foster – a stern woman by anyone’s standards – would have a stuffed koala peeping out of the back of the sofa during her interview on the proposed easing of lockdown?

When all this is over, and we reflect on what we miss, one of mine will be my daily dose of ‘Through the Keyhole’.