The Repair Shop fans break down in tears as son ‘fulfils late father’s dream’ in moving scenes
THE Repair Shop fans were overwhelmed and emotional after hearing a heartfelt father and son backstory centred around a small, colourful boat model.
Jay Blades welcomed Jon Keogh from Glasgow into the barn to get his precious item fixed by a determined group of experts.
The beloved BBC show, which started in 2017, returned for its 13th heartwarming run this month.
Since the show launched, the 54-year-old and the experts from the BBC One show have saved more than a thousand precious items and historical artefacts.
Fans of The Repair Shop previously dubbed the show their ‘weekly weep’ as the programme usually brings on guests with items that have such an incredible backstory.
And the latest episode did not fail to deliver as fans were left bawling at one man’s miniature model prawn trawler ship’s incredible story.
The visiting guest, Jon, revealed to the show’s host that it was a replica of a ship that he and his father used to work on and owned.
He explained that his father built the model from his memory and dubbed him a craftsman who ‘could repair anything’.
When Jay asked if his father was still alive, he sadly answered: “No. Unfortunately, he died in 2007.
“My dad got into fishing during the summer school holidays with a fisherman.”
Following his admission, viewers took to social media and admitted that the man’s revelation had touched them.
Taking to X (Twitter,) one viewer penned: “The boat is glorious. To see it light up again is so nice. #TheRepairShop’
A second wrote: “Every single time #therepairshop (crying emoji).”
“I’m getting emotional over a fishing boat #therepairshop,” another added.
A fourth viewer penned: “The boat is glorious. To see it light up again is so nice. #TheRepairShop.”
“That one’s a good one, very good,” a fourth said.
During the episode, Jon revealed that his father – who was also called Jon – worked on a boat with the Merchant Navy at the age of 15.
After a few years of working on the boat, his father met his mother and wanted to settle down, so he moved into Clyde shipyards as a shipwright – the creation place of the Queen Mary.
In the ’60s and ’70s, Jon’s father built many impressive and essential vessels over his years, including Frigates, POPVs and offshore patrol vessels.
Following the first part of Jon’s back story, The Repair Shop showed a clip explaining that the demand for ships had fallen in the 1970s and 1980s.
After the war, international competition from overseas makers made ship workers’ lives hard and depleted industry jobs, making Jon’s father redundant.
Following the decline in demand, he bought himself the prawn trailer.
Jon also revealed: “It was his dream to have a fishing boat one day. And then me and my dad went fishing on it, for prawns, in the Clyde.”
He disclosed that his father’s dream was to have a memory of his boat.
Behind the curtains, The Repair Shop team worked their magic.
And when the Scot finally looked at it, he was shocked by how much the mini replica had been revived.
Jon was so impressed with the work he described the repair as ‘perfect’ and admitted it looked like the ‘first day’ they got it.
He said to Jay: “It deteriorated over the year. I have had a lot of memories attached to that boat that only me and my dad shared. They’re always with me, always close to my heart.”
When asked what he intends to do with the boat, Jon admitted he would pass it down through his family’s generations to keep the memory of his father’s hard work alive.
Over six new episodes, Jay and his highly experienced team of experts will undertake a new bunch of fascinating and heart-warming repairs.
Series 13 will also feature one of the show’s biggest-ever challenges.
The BBC team will attempt to save an armchair that tells a poignant story about the 1980s AIDS crisis.
Speaking out about the new series, Jay said: “If you’re super excited about The Repair Shop coming back, you’re not the only one.
“We work really hard to make sure people’s dreams come true, so to be able to show you guys what we’ve done is so exciting.”
He continued: “The show goes from strength to strength, and I think that is simply because we’re talking about community, it’s all about working together as a team and achieving a common goal for someone.”
Over the years, some of the most remarkable repairs have included a Jewish Prayer Book that survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp, a grip used to travel on the Windrush ships, a 2,000-year-old Chinese statue and the rocking horse.
The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.