A mother who featured on DIY SOS has described the show as "life-changing" and said ending it would be "heartbreaking to the whole of the UK", after the BBC confirmed the programme will be rested for 2027.
Stacey Kilpatrick appeared on the show last year with her daughter Isla, who has additional needs after being born with a rare genetic bone condition. She spoke on BBC Breakfast on October 29 after presenter Nick Knowles announced the show's future in a video statement.
Nick Knowles confirms show shelved
Before the final episode aired on Tuesday evening (October 27), Nick Knowles shared a video on Instagram which he acknowledged was "quite an emotional one". He said: "We have been told that the programme has been shelved, not ended."
He added: "But I have asked the question, will it ever come back in the form it is, where it builds whole houses for people or builds these great, big, hospices and charity places, and I've been told, no, if it comes back in the future, it'll be smaller, more cost-effective.
"I'd like to thank everybody that we've worked with for the last 26 years. If you volunteered, if you're a tradesperson, if you're a supplier, and you supplied all the stuff for free, love you all. It's been an honour to work with you all. We've loved every minute of it."
Mother's emotional response
His video statement was broadcast on BBC Breakfast on October 29. Presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty verified the BBC's decision to rest the show for 2027. Charlie read out the BBC's statement, in which the broadcaster cited cost pressures as the driving force behind the ruling.
When asked about her life after the transformation, Stacey said: "Firstly, it's emotional hearing Nick say that because he is a major part of it and he is, this isn't just a TV show to him.
"He gets involved with the families, he takes on our stories. It was absolutely life-changing. It's not just a home that these guys help with, it's a situation that most families feel that they're really stuck in.
"DIY SOS is not usually a first place that you go to for help. It's usually kind of one of the last. I applied for so many grants and councils to help and no one really sees the impact that these struggles make on a family. Nick and the team come in and they really kind of get a grasp of the whole situation and really how they can change your lives and it really does."
Impact on daughter's life
Stacey revealed that the alterations allowed her daughter to simply "be a nine-year-old child" by giving her the freedom to run around and enjoy games such as hide and seek within her own home.
She continued: "Simple things like being able to turn on a light switch, being able to open her bedroom door, getting into her own bed. Being able to brush her teeth. Just the normal things you would expect a 9-year-old to do around a normal home. She was unable to and now she can."
When asked for her thoughts on the decision, she responded: "I think to cut this TV show would be absolutely heartbreaking to the whole of the UK. Families like myself kind of love the hope that maybe one day the show will come in and help in situations that we're in.
"Yes, revisiting (the families) is great. To see the impact that the show has had. Families need that hope when we're stuck in these situations. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be any other way out and I think it would be heartbreaking, for the whole of the UK for this show to be to be cut."
BBC Breakfast airs each day from 6.00am on BBC One and iPlayer. DIY SOS is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
