Kirstie Allsopp: ‘Women enjoy doing household chores because it keeps them sane’

In a new interview bound to stir up fresh feminist debate, the TV presenter claimed that all women who work take pleasure in their household duties

In a new interview bound to stir up fresh feminist debate, the TV presenter claimed that all women who work take pleasure in their household duties because it keeps them sane. (Channel 4)

Are you a woman? Do you enjoy chores? Does a pile of ironing and a sink full of washing up scream relaxation to you?

Well, according to Kirstie Allsopp, many whom answered ‘Yes’ to the first question would respond the same to those following queries.

In a newspaper interview, the TV presenter suggested that women who work take pleasure in their household duties because it keeps them sane.

She did not, as she has now phoned The Independent to point out, say that this was the case for "all" women, just a lot of them.

"I’m not doing the ironing because I have to, but if I get a chance, I find it immensely therapeutic," the 42-year-old mother-of-two told Western Daily Press.

"I’m absolutely convinced that those repetitive tasks that one does every day, organising and regularising one’s home, and keeping it tidy, [are] enormously therapeutic.

"I know it is for me, and I have many, many working mum friends who feel the same."

Allsopp went on to discuss the importance of being part of the school run.

"The school run is not something I manage everyday by any stretch of the imagination," she said.

"But I try to make sure at least twice a week, because contact with the school as a working mum is very important.

"Being able to have the time to have a coffee with the friend, just having that human contact with another mum is also really important."

She also discussed the pressing issue of juggling her fitness regime with motherhood and ‘household duties’.

"I have been known to do couple circles of the block in the middle of the night," she admitted.

Allsopp has long defended the rights of mothers who choose to stay at home, and has staked her claim as an authority on ‘domestic issues’ in a series of TV programmes, such as Kirstie’s Homemade Home and Kirstie’s Handmade Britain.

Last month, she blasted the use of the term housewife as “rude” and not fitting of anyone who claims to be a feminist in response to a reader’s comment on the Guardian website, posted after a recent interview she gave.

"I can’t believe you’ve given column space to this Tory housewife," it read.

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