Showbiz

The Repair Shop guest sobs ‘I’m shaking!’ as she breaks down in tears receiving restored doll with heart-wrenching history

The Repair Shop guest sobs ‘I’m shaking!’ as she breaks down in tears receiving restored doll with heart-wrenching history

A Repair Shop guest was left ‘shaking’ before bursting into tears during Wednesday’s episode.

The BBC show saw a woman called Annette visit the famous barn, hoping to restore a beloved doll to its former glory.

She revealed to restoring experts Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell that she was gifted the toy at the age of 11.

Annette revealed that the doll brought her some joy during her ‘frightening’ experience through the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

During the emotional episode, Annette recalled living through the ‘bomb scares’ and how she ‘fell in love’ with the doll when she felt most vulnerable.

She told expert Amanda: ‘When the Troubles in Northern Ireland started, we had bomb scares.

The Repair Shop saw a guest admit that they were 'shaking' before they burst into tears during Wednesday's episode

The Repair Shop saw a guest admit that they were ‘shaking’ before they burst into tears during Wednesday’s episode

The BBC show saw a woman called Annette visit the famous barn, hoping to restore a beloved doll to its former glory

The BBC show saw a woman called Annette visit the famous barn, hoping to restore a beloved doll to its former glory

‘We had a lot of shooting, ordinary people were killed just because of religion. Our childhood, wasn’t really happy, you were frightened.

Read More The Repair Shop fans ‘in tears’ as family are finally ‘brought peace’ by restoration article image

‘We were taken to Holland. We were all given host families and my host family took in one Protestant child and one Catholic child, so that we could get to know a child from another background.’

‘At the end of our stay with our host family, they presented us with little dolls and I just fell in love with her, she means so much. 

‘I swore that I would look after her, but unfortunately – it’s so sad.’

Amanda told Annette that the damage caused to the doll appeared to be caused by natural aging. 

When asked what she would like repaired, the guest revealed that her eyes had fallen off and would like them replaced and would also like some small clog shoes fitted to her feet. 

And when her restored childhood toy was returned to her, Annette burst into tears and was left speechless. 

‘She’s beautiful!’ she said.

She revealed to restoring experts Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell that she was gifted the toy at the age of just 11

She revealed to restoring experts Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell that she was gifted the toy at the age of just 11

Annette revealed that the doll brought her some joy during her 'frightening' experience through the Troubles in Northern Ireland

Annette revealed that the doll brought her some joy during her ‘frightening’ experience through the Troubles in Northern Ireland

And when her restored childhood toy was returned to her, Annette burst into tears and was left speechless

‘I’m shaking! That’s unbelievable. I don’t know what to say, I am really, really shocked. Her hair and everything, you washed it!

‘This wee doll, I’m just back there the way I can remember how I got her, she’s beautiful, honestly.’

While the restorations did not end there, she could not believe they had managed to create a small pair of wooden clogs to fit the dolls feet

She finished: ‘Now she’s a Dutch doll isn’t she, that is beautiful, thank you ever so much.’

The Repair Shop airs Wednesdays on BBC One at 8pm and is available to stream on iPlayer.

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