The Repair Shop viewers left tearful as couple discover secret message from late son

‘I couldn’t believe it when we saw it,’ guest Margaret told the show’s experts

The Repair Shop viewers were left emotional after a couple discovered a hidden message left to them by their late son.

John and Margaret Ivin featured as guests on the BBC series after finding the secret note behind a cupboard wall while renovating their house.

On the show, in which specialists help to fix personal items and heirlooms brought in by members of the public, Margaret told the expert it was a complete shock to see the message that had been written by their son Christopher in 1989 when he was 14. Christopher died of testicular cancer in 2010, when he was 35.

“He would often scribble little notes that he would leave around the house, some of them saying, ‘I love you’,” Margaret told the show’s expert.

This particular message read: “This is original wallpaper. Friday 4:15 8th December 1989. Please leave this wallpaper, Chris.”

Margaret said it was amazing to discover her son’s words, stating: “I couldn’t believe it when we saw it.”

The couple applied for the show in the hopes of repairing the plaster, which crumbled when a builder removed it from the wall.

“It would be so nice to have it back – his handwriting would be a treasure, a real treasure,” Margaret said.

Couple discovered hidden message from late son on ‘The Repair Shop’ (BBC)

The pair were overjoyed when the show’s expert Dominic Chinea successfully mended the item. “It’s better than I ever would have imagined it to be,” Margaret said of his efforts.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Viewers praised the repair on social media, with many left in tears over the episode.

“That was such a lovely repair and the tears flowed,” one person wrote, with another adding: “I love #therepairshop and that bit of old plaster with writing from their son that passed away was a brilliant job and soooooo moving.”

John and Margaret Ivin on ‘The Repair Shop’ (BBC)

This is not the first time that The Repair Shop has left viewers feeling misty eyed.

In a Christmas special that aired in 2023, the team repaired a record player, which had been gifted to guest Jo Thomas by her son before his death from cancer.

She explained: “He bought me this with his own money, because music is a big thing for us... we used to dance round. And as soon as you put the record player on, he’d start beaming at you.”

Repairman Chris Stuckey was left particularly tearful by Thomas’s story, saying: “It’s hard to imagine that an 11-year-old boy, Ben, actually bought this for his mum, knowing he wasn’t going to be around all these years later, for her to enjoy... it’s got me going!”