“‘THEY’RE BUILDING MORE THAN A CASTLE NOW…’ ‘Castle Impossible’ Stars Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira Reveal Exciting Baby Update as Season 2 Raises the Stakes”!~Fan-favorite couple Daphne Reckert and Ian Figueira are back for a brand-new season of Castle Impossible — but the biggest surprise may not be happening inside the castle walls.

It’s a tale as old as time. Man meets girl. Man and woman marry. Man takes a leap of faith leaving their home in California for France to renovate the woman’s 500-year-old chateau inherited from her grandfather. That’s the story behind HGTV’s smash hit Castle Impossible following main characters Daphne Reckert  and Ian Figueira. For Season 2, the couple have continued their efforts to transform the massive 130-acre property one room and space at a time.

Recent episodes saw them reimagine a dilapidated second-floor bedroom into a whimsical library perfect for photo and videoshoots, as well as upgrading their wedding venue’s restrooms into luxurious powder rooms. Their biggest challenge yet came in the form of restoring the chateau’s gatehouse where Daphne’s granny wants to move in by spring time. This proves easier said than done given the personal connection, budget, and tight deadline.

In the midst of all the construction, Daphne and Ian also have to take into account a baby. During the June 2 episode, Daphne revealed to her Granny that she was in fact pregnant. We caught up with the first-time parents about what’s to come.

When we first talked, the show hadn’t premiered yet. Since then it has been a big hit. What do you make of the positive feedback and the show’s success? 

Ian Figueira: The funny thing for us is we hear positive reviews from our families. Then we’re just still working. I guess it’s surreal because we’re just chugging along with the renovations.

Daphne Reckert: The family lets us know. It’s the buzz from them.

During the June 2 episode you revealed you were expecting. Where are we at this stage of the game? 

Daphne: Now we’re at seven months. It’s very exciting. Although Facebook is circulating a post we had twins. So I don’t know about that [laughs]. Not twins.

Ian: Not twins.

Is there anything you miss about California? Maybe In-N-Out Burger or something like that? 

Ian: Honestly, yeah. Food is different in France.

Daphne: Honestly, I miss everything about California. I miss the sun, my friends, my family and the river. From the Bay Area, we had access to so many wonderful things. I miss all of that. At the same time, we’re really happy here. So, it’s not like either/or. It’s not like I prefer it there or here. I love both worlds.

Daphne, you got to see your dad and sister come for a visit. You even shared a little Thanksgiving meal, which I ‘m sure brought a little bit of home. How was it having them see the progress of the chateau and be part of the process a bit? 

Daphne: That was so much fun. It was so sweet to have Sabrina’s little energy in the chateau, being there and running around everywhere and curious about everything. My dad is such a lover of the chateau. It’s always nice when we have people come to visit and they are like, “Look how beautiful it is.” It feels fresh to them. Ian and I will sometimes get a bit overwhelmed and caught up by all the cracks and peeling wallpaper.

Ian: Whenever we have friends, family, or even wedding guests, they are usually smitten by the chateau. For us, we’re having this ongoing list of what we are trying to do. When we walk them through the different rooms, we’re noticing all these things we’re adding to the list while they are enjoying it. I think it’s nice to get a fresh set of eyes. They are the ones telling us they’ll love how the ceiling is in a room or that a room is so big. We’re thinking, “Oh yeah, it is great.” We get to appreciate it and not get so stressed out about it.

There are times where the camera crew may lend a hand. They look to have become an extended part of the family in some ways. 

Daphne: It has been so helpful having them, especially being pregnant and not being able to lift anything.

Ian: Yeah, we’ve taken advantage of that a little bit. We have two main cameramen. Gary [McQuillan] and Alex [Siba], they get us through all of it. It’s funny when you’re watching the show you don’t think they are there, but they are with us. There are times when we are lifting a couch, we’re asking them if they mind helping us with this.

Is there something about filming that isn’t shown that viewers might be surprised by? 

Daphne: There is a lot of organization that happens behind the scenes. A lot of management, planning. It’s hard to show that on camera.

Ian: It’s not exactly TV entertainment to watch us researching things.

Daphne: Or ordering things and making sure things are coming in on time. All of the follow-up to make sure everything gets here.

Ian: Personally, there are these really great shots that happen on the show where you see a time lapse. Every single time when we see that I’m thinking, “That was a week of such hard work, and it’s in three seconds of footage. Aw man.” They condense everything so much, but it’s all so much work and time. It’s fun to see it packaged in an episode, but a heck of a lot of work.

The overarching project has been getting the gatehouse renovated for Granny. Give us a tease of what we’ll see from that project. What does she think of being part of the show? I feel she has become another star herself. 

Daphne: Oh my God, she is so cute. She is like, “I don’t want to be filmed.” Then she’ll be like, “Hi” to the camera. I think she has really enjoyed the process as well because she has seen a lot of things get filmed at the chateau, and it’s mostly historical pieces So, being on camera a little bit has been I feel she really appreciates it.

Ian: We all have fun pampering her too. We’ll have a nice chair for her if we’re doing anything. We’ll make sure she is seated and has plenty to drink and she is getting the star treatment. That is for sure.

What can you say about the future projects coming up including the medieval tavern? 

Ian: The tavern is one I’m really excited about because it’s a real medieval dungeon. When do you ever get to renovate in a dungeon? That specifically was a lot of fun. We’ve tried to take inspiration from the space with regards to its history. Because the initial chateau had a medieval dungeon, I try to take inspiration from medieval furniture, bar tops and all those kinds of things. With other parts of the domain, some of it was from the 1850s. So, we will start looking at Art Nouveau. We try to not make it just one continuous style because that’s not what the chateau is.

Daphne: The chateau was built over time over the ages, so we want to make sure we incorporate all of the different aspects.

Ian: I think that is what makes it fun.

Daphne: The tavern was a lot of fun for Ian because you got to make that table. He has been wanting to do carpentry work at that scale for quite a while. He finally got to do it, and then there is also the tearoom, which was more Marie Antoinette style.

Ian: People are going to love that episode.

Daphne: And oh my gosh the Dove Tower. That was definitely my favorite renovation. It’s so magical and romantic.

Ian: I think that’s the last episode, but Daphne and I were just in the Dove Tower today and it’s kind of surreal. We’d like to think of castles like this fairytale space. The Dove Tower just fully encompasses that.

Where are you on the treasure hunt and finding hidden places on the grounds? You talk about finding this bridge outside during a recent episode. 

Daphne: We’ve discovered a tunnel.

Ian: I don’t think we can say more about that. I’ll say we haven’t found a pirate’s treasure chest yet. We hope it’s not lost. But I think the other thing is over the last year we’ve learned a lot about the whole property. A lot of that has been through maps. Discovering some of the original maps from 300 or 400 years ago. Seeing how different the property was, it’s pretty incredible.

So still the potential of seeing gold or treasure. 

Ian: Yep! There is. Actually, what’s really interesting is the couple who came from Italy who were really rich and the ones we believed were the ones who left the treasure.

Daphne: The biggest amount of treasure in any case because multiple people in France have owned the chateau.

Ian: They are the ones specifically where there is ambiguous history around them. We actually just learned recently that they weren’t just rich for the time. They were billionaire rich at the time. They were super wealthy.

Daphne: A lot of their wealth disappeared when they disappeared. Nobody knows where it went. We think it’s hidden somewhere.

What do you want to say to viewers as they get ready for the rest of the season? 

Ian: I feel like the chateau is about to get a lot more magical with what we’ve added to it this year.

Daphne: A lot more magical. That is a great way to put it.

Castle Impossible, Tuesdays, 9/8c, HGTV (Next Day on HBO Max)