A BBC guest broke down in tears during The Repair Shop as a mortified wife recalled the moment her treasured item was destroyed by bleach.

Lloyd Richards and his wife Karen brought a rare Welsh rugby shirt to the rural shed with the hopes that qualified textile conservator Rebecca Bissonnet could help restore the professional jersey following a laundry disaster.

The couple’s top dates back to the 1960s and originally belonged to Lloyd’s father who was a former fly-half for the Welsh rugby union team.

After winning his only cap against France in 1960 at the age of 28 in the Cardiff Arms Park, he was the last man to play at ‘outside’ [fly] half for Wales wearing the No. 6 shirt, according to the WRU site.

Speaking to presenters Will Kirk and Rebecca, Lloyd said: ‘He played for Wales. My greatest regret was that I never saw him play. He grew up in a place called Skewen in south Wales. He used to say that he trained by running up the coal slag heaps behind his house.

‘He went on to play for Neath Rugby Club, moved to Swansea, played for Swansea, became the captain of Swansea, he was a Barbarian, and of course, it sort of culminates to playing for his country.

A BBC guest broke down in tears during The Repair Shop as a mortified wife recalled the moment her treasured item was destroyed by bleach

Lloyd Richards and his wife Karen brought a rare Welsh rugby shirt to the rural shed with the hopes that qualified textile conservator, Rebecca Bissonnet could help restore the professional jersey following a laundry disaster

‘The position that he played – fly-half, any rugby fan will know a fly-half wears the number 10. But he wore the number six.

‘He was the last Welsh international to play with the number six. It was 1960, and I don’t know the reason why it changed.’

Lloyd’s father pᴀssed away in December 2023 aged 91 and the son wanted his father’s shirt restored to ‘continue his legacy’.

‘He died just before Christmas last year, he was 91,’ he revealed.

‘And since his pᴀssing, it matters even more that we hold onto his legacy. He is a legend, my dad. I loved him to bits, he was a real maverick on the rugby pitch, but an incredibly conservative man in life, a very humble bloke.’

When talking about the damage to the treasured item Karen said: ‘When we were given the shirt, I thought, shall we frame it or wash it?

‘I forgot that it was from the 1960s, I put it in the machine and it came out and the red had run into the collar, I tried to then get the pink out of the collar’.

Karen then admitted that she tried to bleach it out, which caused even more damage to the shirt.

The couple’s top dates back to the 1960s and originally belonged to Lloyd’s father who was a former fly-half for the Welsh rugby union team

Karen admitted that she tried to bleach it out, which caused even more damage to the shirt

‘So this is all me,’ she confirmed. ‘I’m a bit mortified, to say the least. I have felt incredibly guilty ever since.’

Tearing up, she continued: ‘You know, he worked really hard for that. For me, it’s just a way to honour him if we can get it to look anything like it did originally.’

As she pointed at the three feathers on the shirt, she added: ‘Thank goodness, the really important bit still looks good. But it’s not a Welsh rugby shirt unless it’s red, is it?’.

Lloyd continued: ‘Red and Wales, I don’t really know why – there’s a word in Welsh, which is called ‘hiraeth’, and hiraeth is sort of a longing for the place that you come from and that is sort of hiraeth for me.’

Rebecca told the couple that she would ‘do [her] best’ but when the couple left the barn she told Will she was worried.

As she worked on the family’s prized possession Rebecca said: ‘The Welsh rugby red is a very distinctive, strong colour. This shirt is made of cotton and I believe this sтιтching is made out of polyester, and I don’t think this has been affected by the bleaching process.

‘So, I think that is a really good clue, as they would’ve matched the sтιтching up to the colour of the jersey. My biggest heartache is this emblem, which is really important for the shirt. Feathers, the symbolism of Wales, is making me feel quite nervous because I’m actually going to have to cut this off, because otherwise, once I dye the jersey, anything else is going to be red.’

Rebecca removed the embroidery and stripped the jersey of its colour, before dying and drying it.

When Lloyd and Karen came back to their restored item, Lloyd said: ‘I haven’t stopped thinking about it. It represents Dad. I miss him dearly, so it would be nice to have him and what he represents back, because we need to show it off.’

In tears, Karen said: ‘My God, that’s amazing’ before Lloyd added: ‘You know that red I was talking about? That is Welsh red.’

Karen added: ‘It didn’t even look that good before I put it in the washing machine. Honestly, it did not look good like that before. Wow!’

Referring to the emblem, Lloyd said: ‘The three feathers just pop out. That’s amazing.’ When asked if the weight had been lifted off of Karen’s shoulders, she said: ‘Oh my goodness, so much.’

Will then revealed that The Repair Shop team had organised a see-through case to be framed around the shirt.

Will said: ‘We feel like it is something that should be seen on all sides.’ Lloyd agreed. As he picked up the case from the table, he said: ‘Come on, Dad.’

And viewers were equally impressed with the restoration as they too to X to share their thoughts.

Rebecca removed the embroidery and stripped t of its colour, before dying and drying it. When Lloyd and Karen came back, Lloyd said: ‘I haven’t stopped thinking about it. It represents Dad’

One penned: ‘#therepairshop my word the rugby shirt!!!’

‘Wow! Amazing job’

‘This rugby shirt on Repair Shop is incredible #therepairshop’

‘Don’t let her wash it again #therepairshop’

The Repair Shop is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.