We caught up with Four in a Bed participants, Greg Toogood and Vicki Small, who own the Masons Arms in Gloucestershire to find out what they thought about the filming experience.
NOTE: The opinions expressed by the programme participant in this interview do not reflect the views and opinions of the Four in a Bed production team, Studio Lambert, or any other party involved. These opinions belong solely to the interviewee and are for entertainment purposes only.
Do you have a funny anecdote of Four in a Bed? Maybe from behind the scenes or your favourite part of filming?
Greg: Oh there were quite a few bits, like accidentally leaving the microphone on while going to the toilet. The sound guys were just hearing stuff they didn’t need to. You soon learn to turn your microphone off.
Vicki: But it’s also really weird because we joked at the end that we didn’t know how to go to bed or wake up in the morning without a camera in our face. They really are there in the morning.
Greg: Yeah, they film absolutely everything. Getting in bed and getting out of bed.
Vicki: It’s like they’re tucking you into bed every night. So that was something different. I think at the beginning you might be aware that you’re being recorded the whole time. But you soon forget that.
Greg: If you’re nervous at first, you will get used to it really quickly.
Why did you decide to apply for Four in a Bed?
Greg: We got an email asking if we wanted to be part of it. At the time, we were locked down so we thought, yeah, why not?
Vicki: We’d only just taken over Masons Arms in August 2020, so when we were actually doing the filming, we’d only been there for eight months. We were very new and it’s our first pub with rooms. We actually spent a lot of the lockdown in March 2020, watching Four in a Bed strangely enough.
How did you find the application process?
Greg: I think it was quite easy. There’s a couple of video interviews we had to do and show ourselves around our place and things like that.
Vicki: Because of social distancing, it’s very different to how it used to be. But we did our own little video of the pub, walking around and talking and stuff like that. It was a while ago now, but the application process wasn’t really hard. [The Four in a Bed team] were quite honest about what it could mean for us if we appeared on the show. It’s not always bubbly.
Do you have any top tips or advice for someone who might want to apply for Four in a Bed?
Greg: Be yourself and have fun.
Vicki: We didn’t go in to win it. We genuinely didn’t. We just went in to have fun and hope we’d get some good feedback from people who’ve done this longer than we have. One thing you do have to do is make sure you’re always open and honest. You couldn’t pretend to be someone else for that amount of time. I think it’d be too hard.
In terms of the actual filming, visiting and hosting, how did you find that experience?
Greg: It was definitely eye opening, I think. It was different because we’ve never done that sort of thing before. It was really good to see exactly how everything went on behind the scenes. And to see how much work is involved even for short programmes.
Vicki: There’s so many people involved and the filming crew were so much fun to work and be with as well. I think the only time I’ve ever had a camera in my face was on our wedding day, but after a while you kind of forget they’re there. I was really nervous on the first meet because we were hosting first and you don’t know who’s coming. But we got used to it. I’m glad we went first.
And finally, was it worth it? Have you benefited from appearing on Four in a Bed?
Greg: Yes. It is worth it. We’ve had a lot of people inquiring about us. We’ve also had a lot of old customers and people that we’ve known in the past come and see us because they know where we are now.
You mentioned that COVID made it easier because you weren’t open. If something similar came up, maybe a different programme, you would do it again? Even if you were open?
Vicki: It depends what it would be. We’re a lot more established now than we were, because we’ve had a lot more experience.
Greg: Yes, I think we would be up for something, but it would depend on the exact circumstances.
About Masons Arms
- Owned by Greg Toogood and Vicki Small
- Located in the bustling Cotswolds village, Meysey Hampton
- Restaurant and Bar on site
- No. of rooms: 8
- Family and dog friendly
- 15 minute drive to Cirencester
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Four in a Bed info:
What is it?
A popular tea-time show aired on Channel 4, Four in a Bed is a week-long competition taking place over five daily episodes.
Owners of four boutique hotels, B&Bs, holiday lets or glamping sites, try to convince their competitors that their business offers the best value for money.
Each week is a different competition. In the first four episodes of each week, the owners take it in turns to host their opponents. In the final episode of the week, everyone reveals how much they are prepared to pay for the visits to each of the businesses.
It’s a consistently successful show on Channel 4 and first began in 2010.
How do I take part?
Interested in applying to appear on Four in a Bed? Want to showcase your business on TV to the nation?
Apply to appear on the show!
Head to the Studio Lambert website and head to the ‘Take Part’ section.
To apply for a future series of the show, email your full name and name of your hospitality business to:
You can also check out their Instagram, where the team often share casting updates: @fourinabed
Want to learn more?
Back in April 2020, Luxury BnB Magazine’s Editor, Juliet Horner, interviewed the Executive Producer of Channel 4’s Four in a Bed, Mark James.
Mark gave Juliet a glimpse behind the scenes so that you, our readers, can discover the inner workings of the popular tv series.
Find out what the producers look for when reviewing applications submitted by business owners just like you!
Read online for free or check out the April 2020 magazine.
You can also check out the interview with Four in a Bed winners, Gables Pod Camping in our April 2020 magazine, to find out what it’s like to appear on the show.