Who Is Laura Sherriff? Meet the Woman Behind Craig Phillips and the “Mr & Mrs DIY” Empire
If you grew up watching British telly in the early 2000s, the name Craig Phillips probably rings a loud bell. He was the cheeky Liverpudlian brickie who walked into the very first series of Big Brother UK back in 2000 and walked out a national treasure. But behind every long-running TV career there’s usually a story that does not make the headlines quite so often, and in Craig’s case a big part of that story is his wife, Laura Sherriff. She is far more than a “celebrity partner” footnote, and once you dig into who she actually is, you start to understand why the pair have become such a recognisable double act in the home improvement world. So let’s take a proper look at Laura Sherriff, the woman who quietly became one half of one of Britain’s most likeable DIY couples.
So, Who Exactly Is Laura Sherriff?
Laura Sherriff, who now also goes by Laura Phillips and the brand-friendly nickname “Mrs DIY,” is a British fitness instructor, model, and television and live-events presenter. She is not someone who stumbled into the spotlight purely by marrying a famous face; she had her own working life in front of the camera long before she ever met Craig. Qualified as a personal trainer and comfortable presenting everything from product reviews to sports coverage, Laura built a career on being capable, energetic, and easy to watch. That blend of practical skill and on-screen warmth is exactly what would later make her such a natural fit for the DIY content she and Craig now produce together. In short, she is a grafter with a camera-friendly personality, and that combination has served her well.
How Laura Sherriff and Craig Phillips Crossed Paths
The pair’s story began in 2016, and like a lot of modern romances it started at work rather than in some grand cinematic setting. They met at a television studio, widely reported to be the Ideal World shopping channel, where Laura was working as a model and sports and fitness presenter. Craig, never one to play it cool, has happily admitted that he knew almost straight away. By his own account, he told Laura within about a week of meeting her that he intended to marry her, which is a bold move by anyone’s standards. It clearly paid off, because rather than scaring her away, that confidence laid the foundation for a relationship that has now lasted the best part of a decade. There is something rather charming about the fact that two people who present things for a living found their own love story on a studio floor.
The Engagement on Sydney Harbour Bridge
When Craig decided to propose, he did not opt for a quiet dinner at home. In 2017 the couple travelled to Australia, and it was in Sydney that he got down on one knee, having climbed the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is the kind of high-energy, slightly adrenaline-fuelled gesture that suits a man who spent more than two months in the original Big Brother house and has never been shy of a challenge. For Laura, saying yes thousands of miles from home, with one of the most iconic views in the world as a backdrop, was the start of the next chapter. The engagement set the tone for what was to come: a couple who do things wholeheartedly and are not afraid of a bit of spectacle, balanced with genuine affection underneath all the showmanship.
The Wedding at Peckforton Castle
Laura and Craig tied the knot on Friday 9 February 2018 at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, a genuinely fairy-tale setting that matched the occasion. According to coverage of the day, they said their vows in front of around 200 of their closest friends and family members, which tells you something about how sociable and well-connected the couple are. A castle wedding in the depths of a British February takes a certain amount of confidence, but by all accounts it was a warm and joyful affair. After the ceremony the newlyweds did not exactly head off for a sun-lounger honeymoon either; they went snowboarding in Colorado, which feels entirely on-brand for two people who clearly prefer being active to sitting still. It was, in every sense, a wedding that reflected who they are.
Remembering Daniel Sherriff: The Heart Behind the Big Day
What really set the wedding apart, though, was not the venue or the guest list but the meaning the couple chose to attach to it. Rather than asking for traditional gifts, Laura and Craig requested that guests donate to Helen & Douglas House, a children’s hospice based in Oxford. The reason was deeply personal. Laura’s brother, Daniel Sherriff, had been diagnosed with a brain tumour as a baby and died after a three-year battle, and the hospice had cared for him during that heartbreakingly short life. Craig has spoken about how the hospice gave Daniel a place of comfort and gave Laura’s family precious time with their son. Laura even auctioned her wedding dress to raise more money for the cause, and the couple’s fundraising page comfortably passed its target. It is a detail that says a great deal about Laura’s character: even on the happiest day of her life, she made room to honour her brother and to help other families facing the unthinkable.
Laura’s Roots: Creativity, Her Father, and a DIY Upbringing
To understand why Laura took to the DIY world so easily, it helps to look at where she came from. By her own account, creativity runs in the family. Her mother was an art teacher and her father was a photographer, so she grew up surrounded by people who made things, framed things, and thought visually. Crucially, it was Laura’s father who introduced her to DIY from an early age, teaching her practical skills that most kids never pick up. That early grounding matters. When you have been handed tools and shown how to use them as a child, picking up a drill or tackling a renovation as an adult does not feel intimidating; it feels like home. So while plenty of people assume Laura simply absorbed Craig’s expertise after they met, the truth is that she brought her own hands-on background to the table, courtesy of a dad who clearly believed in passing on practical know-how.
Becoming “Mrs DIY”: Laura’s Career and Brand
Before the DIY branding took over, Laura had already racked up a varied CV. She worked as a model and as a sports and fitness presenter, with credits that reportedly included shopping channel work, a commercial for a major sportswear brand, product reviews, powerboat racing coverage, and presenting a regional football awards ceremony. She has also been an ambassador for activewear brands and is described as a qualified personal trainer with a master-trainer status in high-intensity Tabata workouts. All of that experience fed into the persona she now shares with Craig as one half of “Mr & Mrs DIY.” Together they run a YouTube channel and website packed with home and garden tutorials, and Laura’s presence is a deliberate part of the appeal. She helps make DIY feel approachable, particularly for women who might otherwise assume that wallpapering, tiling, or building flat-pack furniture is somebody else’s job. That gentle nudge toward “you can do this too” is a genuinely useful contribution, and it is one Laura is well placed to make.
Nelly Janice and Lennon Thomas: Growing the Family
Marriage was quickly followed by a growing family. Laura and Craig welcomed their first child, a daughter named Nelly Janice Phillips, on 8 March 2019 at Whiston Hospital, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz. Craig, a proud father in his late forties by then, announced the arrival in his usual enthusiastic style. Their second child, a son named Lennon Thomas Phillips, arrived on 2 December 2020, weighing 6lb 10.5oz. There is a lovely little nod to the family’s Liverpool heritage in that name, with Lennon chosen as a tribute to John Lennon. Two children under two is a serious undertaking for any couple, let alone one running a business and filming content at the same time, but Laura has balanced motherhood with her work without losing her own identity in the process. Watching the family grow has become part of the appeal for the audience who follow the Phillips household online.
The Dream Build Near Liverpool
Few things sum up the couple’s partnership better than the home they built together. Between roughly 2017 and 2019, Laura and Craig designed and constructed a self-build property in Eccleston Park, on the outskirts of Liverpool. This was no modest extension; reports describe a spacious contemporary home of around 6,000 square feet with eight bedrooms, plus a games room, a bar, a gym, and a workshop or studio space. Much of the build was documented for their channel, turning their own house into both a home and a long-form content project. The property was constructed using environmentally friendly bricks, reflecting a thoughtful approach to the build rather than just chasing square footage. Remarkably, Laura was heavily pregnant during the final push to get the house finished before Nelly arrived, which gives you a sense of just how committed she is to seeing a project through. The home was later listed for sale at around £1.5 million, a tidy reflection of what the couple managed to create from the ground up.
A New Chapter in Mallorca
Just when it seemed the family were settled in their dream build, they made a bold change of scenery. In the summer of 2024, Laura, Craig, and the children relocated full-time to Mallorca, Spain, with Craig confirming that they landed at the end of July that year. The move was made on a digital nomad visa, which fits neatly with a couple whose income increasingly comes from online content that can be produced from almost anywhere. The children settled into school on the island, and the family swapped the unpredictable British weather for the Balearic sunshine. It is a reinvention that takes nerve, especially with young kids and an established business back home, but it is also entirely in keeping with two people who have repeatedly shown they are willing to take a leap. For Laura, it represents another fresh start and another opportunity to build a life on her own terms.
The Age Gap and Life in the Public Eye
One topic that inevitably comes up is the age difference between Laura and Craig. Craig was born in October 1971, while Laura’s birth year is generally placed around 1986, giving the couple roughly a 14-year gap. Craig has joked that Laura was still at school when he won Big Brother, which is the kind of self-aware humour that takes the sting out of a subject some couples would rather avoid. The pair even appeared on a Channel 5 programme exploring age-gap relationships, discussing their dynamic openly. What comes across is that the gap simply has not been an issue for them; if anything, they treat it as a bit of a running joke. Laura, for her part, keeps a noticeably lower public profile than her husband, sharing her life selectively rather than chasing constant attention. That restraint is part of what makes her come across as grounded, even within a relationship that plays out partly on camera.
What Laura Sherriff Brings to the Partnership
It would be easy, and lazy, to file Laura away as “Craig Phillips‘ wife” and leave it there, but that would miss the point entirely. Laura brings her own skills, her own audience appeal, and her own backstory to the partnership. She is the one who softens the DIY world and makes it feel inclusive, the one whose fitness background adds another dimension to the couple’s content, and the one whose personal history gave their wedding its emotional depth. Where Craig is the loud, larger-than-life presence built by reality television, Laura provides a steadier, more measured energy that complements him rather than competing with him. Together they form a genuine team, both in their marriage and in their work, and the success of the “Mr & Mrs DIY” brand owes as much to her as it does to him. She is a co-creator, not a sidekick.
Conclusion
Laura Sherriff’s story is a reminder that the most interesting people in a famous couple are not always the ones holding the trophy. She arrived in Craig Phillips’ life as an accomplished presenter and trainer with her own creative roots, a DIY-loving father who taught her young, and a deeply personal connection to charity through her late brother, Daniel. Since then she has married at a castle, helped build a multi-million-pound home, raised Nelly Janice and Lennon Thomas, and uprooted the whole family for a new life in Mallorca, all while quietly becoming the recognisable “Mrs DIY” to thousands of followers. She has managed to share her life publicly without losing herself in the process, and she has carved out a role that is genuinely her own. So the next time someone mentions the first ever Big Brother winner, it is worth remembering that the modern-day Craig Phillips story is really a two-hander, and Laura Sherriff is every bit as central to it as the man himself.
FAQs
Who is Laura Sherriff?
Laura Sherriff, also known as Laura Phillips or “Mrs DIY,” is a British fitness instructor, model, and TV presenter, and the wife of first Big Brother UK winner Craig Phillips. The pair co-run the “Mr & Mrs DIY” home improvement brand.
When did Laura Sherriff and Craig Phillips get married?
They married on Friday 9 February 2018 at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, in front of around 200 friends and family. Rather than gifts, they asked guests to donate to a children’s hospice in memory of Laura’s late brother, Daniel.
How many children do Laura Sherriff and Craig Phillips have?
They have two children: a daughter, Nelly Janice Phillips, born on 8 March 2019, and a son, Lennon Thomas Phillips, born on 2 December 2020. Lennon’s name is a nod to the family’s Liverpool roots.
What is the age gap between Laura Sherriff and Craig Phillips?
There is roughly a 14-year age gap. Craig was born in October 1971, while Laura’s birth year is widely placed around 1986. The couple have spoken about it openly and treat it as a light-hearted running joke.
Where do Laura Sherriff and Craig Phillips live now?
After building a multi-million-pound self-build home near Liverpool, the family relocated full-time to Mallorca, Spain, at the end of July 2024, where their children now attend school.
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