Charlotte Church admits she's taking a massive risk as she begins her journey renovating Laura Ashley's former mansion.
During the first episode of Charlotte Church's Dream Build on Tuesday, January 11 the singer reveals she's poured her life savings into the property project, which will be both a home and business.
But it needs to be completed by June 2022 in order to meet the summer season and start making revenue - otherwise she could be in trouble before she's even started.
Charlotte says: "If we don't get it done by the start of June I'm up sh*t creek without a paddle! I'm in a lot of trouble."
READ MORE: The amazing story of the woman renovating a dilapidated Welsh castle she didn't even want to buy
It was back in April 2021 when Charlotte first drove through the sunny and leafy Welsh countryside with her family to embark on arguably her most exciting, but also riskiest, adventure yet after buying legendary Welsh fashion designer Laura Ashley's former home in Powys, called Rhydoldog House.
But the mum-of-three couldn't be happier as she began the transformation of the unique property into her dream business and home in the country.
Charlotte tells viewers during the first episode of the show on Discovery's Really channel: "It blows my mind and fills my heart that I own it now. My biggest project is about to begin. I have pretty much spent my entire life savings on this."
But the novice renovator was naively driving into a stressful journey of planning, construction and design because the property looks finished on the outside but most of it is a wreck on the inside.
And there's also a barn and stables in the garden to be renovated and converted, plus the magical grounds of garden, woodland and pastureland to maintain and redesign into a peaceful retreat.
Charlotte's plans to turn the house into a wellbeing and healing health retreat, occasional wedding venue and glamping business will now be followed by TV cameras for the next eight weeks.
Viewers can join Charlotte on her journey to transform this famous country house in need of major work into a dream home and business via eight, hour-long weekly programmes.
You can read more TV news here.
And it's going to be a rocky road ahead to try and hit the deadline of June 2022 to at least open some part of the business and start making money.
The house, nestled within the glorious countryside in the Elan Valley, was on the market for £1.8m in 2018 and came with 49 acres and six bedrooms; and one big renovation headache.
Find out more about the property for sale here including photographs of how the house looked before the former owner started to take it back to brick to start a renovation process.
Charlotte reveals that she has a mortgage of £750,00 and £300,000 from her mum Maria and stepdad James towards the realisation of her dream, "because I gave them a whack of money when I was a teenager".
The house and 49 acres of land has already cost Charlotte £1.5m to buy, but it wasn't really what she was initially looking for.
Charlotte says she was on the hunt for a field costing about £30,000 for a new venture to build a glamping business that can be a sustainable source of long-term income for her family.
The 35-year-old singer reveals that she needed a break, a step away from the celebrity spotlight, and wanted to secure some land that reflected her love of nature, the countryside and trees.
Charlotte knew Rhydoldog House was out of her ideal price range, but she made the mistake of visiting it just to have a look and, as is the scenario for so many people, she instantly fell in love with the house and the magical grounds.
She says: "I am obsessed with nature and want to make the most of Rhydoldog's magical landscape. It's dreamy but a bit of a nightmare house, not looking her best."
Her ideas for the house, which isn't a listed building, includes creating a yoga and well-being room, an office, a history and 1-2-1 therapy room.
The show sees Charlotte helping to demolish an inner wall to create a very spacious dining room for guests staying at the wellbeing centre.
There's a previously renovated apartment for Charlotte and the family to use during the renovations too.
Being a self-confessed creative soul, Charlotte has some intriguing ideas for the house, some of which cause her team to pause and perhaps steer her in a different direction.
Charlotte has an adverse reaction to the suggestion that each guest bedroom should have its own ensuite, or at least a private toilet, proposing that sharing should be fine.
In the basement, she's hoping to create a steam room or Turkish hammam treatment room and upstairs she gives into the pressure from the team to add a few extra bathrooms.
Charlotte's ideal scenario is to eventually transform Rhydoldog House and site into an eco site, off-grid and generating its own power and running as self-sufficient as possible, but even the batteries to do so will dent the current budget by an eye-watering £300,000.
But Charlotte is also keenly aware that this is all totally new to her and so the advice and support of the construction experts in her team, and in particular her husband Jonathan Powell and step-dad James, is key to her.
And James is worried, not just about some of her ideas not being practical, but mainly the timescale, the budget and the huge risk of renovating Rhydoldog House.
Johnny describes the project as "a rollercoaster", and the series covers all the twists and turns through the eight episodes.
More recently included a planning application regarding access to the site raising objections from officials. Find out more about that here.
Rhydoldog House has had a strong and long connection to a famous Welsh woman in the past, now it is in the ownership of another one who brings to this next chapter in its history her determination, unbounding enthusiasm and obvious passion for the property.
But James is worried, saying: "Charlotte has great ideas but they're not always practical; she's a dreamer. What's the worst that can happen? She loses everything; everything is on the line."
Charlotte Church's Dream Build starts on Discovery's Really channel on Tuesday, January 11 at 9pm and runs for eight weeks.
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