King of the design world, if not the fashion world, Laurence's passion at school, surprisingly, wasn't his hair but his art. He graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Camberwell College and found his niche in interior design in 1986 when he became marketing manager for an industrial flooring and door manufacturer.

Laurence has since designed floors for the London Underground as well as for super-posh pads such as the Royal Albert Hall and Buckingham Palace.

Laurence's break into TV is down to his author wife, Jackie. Her agent heard a production team was searching for a designer to work on a new project. They didn't have to search very far and soon makeover TV's brightest star was born, along with the TV-hit Changing Rooms. Suddenly, DIY was cool.

Laurence's immense creativity on the show banished the snobby, elitist notions of interior design as he favoured relatively cheap yet stylish designs - usually with his unique touch of eccentric elegance. Laurence once compared his role in Changing Rooms to a Carry On movie, saying it was a lot of "rushing around giving it the Kenneth Williams".

He recently came third in a poll to find the loudest dressed Brit. A rather dubious honour, he was pipped to the post only by Graham Norton and - lord of the lavish - Jonathan Ross.

If you want to get to know the other members of the Changing Rooms team see Meet Carol Smillie, Meet Linda Barker and Meet Anna Ryder Richardson. To get to grips with your own designs, check out Change Your Room!