Paul Merton and the British obsession with motorhomes

In the past couple of years successive lockdowns and the need for self-contained holidays meant record numbers of people embraced motorhomes and campervans for the first time. 16,608 new motorhomes were registered with the DVLA in 2021, topping the existing sales record by 8 per cent. But was this just a lockdown fad? Not if the latest sales figures are anything to go by. Even as the economy looks shaky, motorhome purchases are on the rise, with both new and second-hand vans commanding a premium.

One motorhome convert is comedian and writer Suki Webster. With husband Paul Merton, she co-hosted Motorhoming with Merton & Webster – an affable Channel 5 travelogue, which involved the couple visiting picturesque parts of the UK in an industrial unit-sized RollerTeam Pegaso 740 motorhome.

With filming sometimes lasting until 11pm you might think that booking into a hotel would be tempting, but the couple did the motorhoming bit for real, although they were hardly slumming it.