A Place in the Sun's Jean Johansson felt 'pressure' during house hunt which ended with 'all three of us in tears'

A Place in the Sun is back with a brand new series on and Glaswegian host Jean Johansson revealed some of the hard-hitting stories and off-camera conversations with the participants.

Heading to South West France and Spain, Jean spent time with workers Rooman and Richard, as well as a former policeman and his partner.

In one of the new episodes, Jean took Rooman and Richard to Fuengirola in Spain in the hope of finding their dream holiday home, but she also had a strong off-screen bond with them.

She explained: "Richard and Roo I'm very much still in touch with, it's kind of a show where the stakes are a little bit higher.

"We were just out of Covid, life was just getting back to normal and I can only imagine what this doctor and nurse had been seeing. They needed a place to escape to, a place to relax, I really wanted to help them with that."

She said she spent "a lot of time with the couple off-camera", having dinner or having a drink.

"We all have respect and love for the NHS but after we had just come out of the pandemic I really wanted to do right by them," she said.

"I think it's what keeps A Place In The Sun going for all these years, the house hunters are so different and just to get personal stories that are a bit more layered has been lovely."

She continued: "Roo and Richard were quite a similar age to me so we would have a glass of wine after wrap, we have a lot in common.

"We just really clicked on and off camera so it's been nice to keep in touch with them because they do such great work.

"They are busy guys but we always make time for a text or phone call."

Another house hunter who Jean has felt honoured to help during her career was a former police officer who was struggling with PTSD.

She explained: "He was a policeman who retired early because his job was hard going and he had a bit of PTSD as well.

"It was really personal, it was someone who had to get away from the UK and all the triggers of his previous job, so it's a lot of pressure on that one.

"It was 'I need to change my life, I need to get away from all the stresses and the things that trigger my PTSD. I want a quiet life in France'."

Further explaining the pressure she felt to get it right, she added: "It needed to be quiet, peaceful, everything their previous life wasn't.

"It was a search where the stakes were much higher for me. Without giving anything away there's a beautiful ending where all three of us were in tears."

A Place in the Sun airs on Channel 4 at 3pm