Charlotte Church: TV series documents wellbeing project

Although she found stardom as a singer, Charlotte Church is now embarking on an altogether more daunting project.

The Welsh singer-songwriter is turning Rhydoldog, a derelict Welsh country house in the Elan Valley, Powys, into a business venture.

Church plans to transform the £1.5m, seven-bedroom property - once owned by Laura Ashley - into a healing retreat.

The 36-year-old has spoken out about the highs and lows of the process and her aspirations for the future.

She said: "It was never in my plan to buy something like Rhydoldog. I was looking for a field so I could start a glamping business.

"As soon as I saw it, I fell madly in love - it was an obsessional relationship for a while. It didn't then take long to build the vision - literally every second I spent away from the place, I was thinking about it constantly.

"It was something about the waterfalls that felt so deeply peaceful and cleansing. That's when I started thinking about a retreat centre, and then everything just started falling into place from there."

The house near Rhayader, with origins in the 15th Century, had been bought by textile, fashion and retail entrepreneur Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard and owned by the family until his death in 2009.

Church, who rose to fame as an operatic singer in 1997 at the age of 11 before later finding success as a pop star, bought the property two years ago and has been engaged in the renovation project ever since.

"My hope, if I get planning permission, is to make it a retreat centre, which is focused on nature connections, sound healing and ceremony," she said.

"One of my big plans for it is that it's affordable, or at least to have some options which are very affordable for people."

Church, who originates from Llandaff, Cardiff, launched her television series, Charlotte Church's Dream Build, last year to document the process.

In series one, viewers saw the star getting very hand-on with the project.

"I've had to turn my hand to a million different things and I've also had to keep it all in my mind, which has almost broken my mind at different points," she said.

"Especially having a young baby, trying to balance my family life and my other work commitments - it's really been a lot.

"One of the things it has really taught me is that we all need to figure out how to have a much healthier work-life balance."

However, she says her family have been a huge support.

"Particularly my dad - if it didn't make financial sense, he would question me more and ask me to reflect. He really was that sounding board and kept me honest, I suppose.

"It has been quite stressful. But in a way, I'm only experiencing what everybody else experiences. I've always been in an incredibly privileged position, where I've not had to worry about money. And so now, I have to worry about money! It's all about perspective.

"Whilst it has been risky, really nerve-racking and very stressful in making myself so vulnerable financially, I also know now that it's going to work, because we've had thousands of people getting in touch who really want to come and stay."

Series two of Charlotte Church's Dream Build airs from 21:00 GMT on Wednesday, 5 October on Really and Discovery+.