The Repair Shop audience were moved to tears after witnessing a chair’s emotional metamorphosis.
On the most recent episode of the BBC series, Lee from London inquired whether a leather armchair he purchased with his late girlfriend 40 years ago might be restored.
He told to host Jay Blades and upholstery restorer Sonnaz Nooranvary that the chair was the first piece of furniture they purchased together.
The pair originally met in a tavern in Athens in 1983, while Lee was on vacation and Greg was serving in the American Air Force.
‘I caught a glimpse of him in the mirror and I said he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen…and that was the start of the most wonderful relationship,’ he said.
However, he said ‘the trouble started’ when they tried to do their best to be together, with Greg repeatedly facing visa troubles as he attempted to settle in the UK.
But, in 1986, he was finally able to stay.
‘Everything was beautiful. We had a brand-new life and brand new flat together and this was our first piece of furniture we got together to build our home,’ Lee shared.
However, six months later Greg found out he was HIV positive.
He died within the year, just a few weeks before his 30th birthday.
‘If you were HIV positive you were going to die and I lost so many friends too,’ Lee reflected.
However, he stated that while keeping the chair and knowing the memories it represented was comforting, there were concerns that it was decaying beyond repair.
‘I have photos of him polishing it so he would be disgusted with it now,’ Lee said.
Sonnaz explained that there were severe fissures in portions of the leather that could potentially lead to holes.
‘It would be tragic to lose it so I will hope and pray I can strengthen it in some way,’ she said.
However she was able to carry out the necessary work, which she hoped would be ‘a fitting tribute to the love they shared with one another’.
When it came to the reveal, Lee said it was ‘indescribable’ to see it brought back to its former glory.
‘All of the memories and amount of love and companionship all those beautiful things…it’s just bringing back memories of all those years and it was so unfair he was taken away so early,’ he said.
‘Our whole history is in that chair and now the story goes on and the chair goes on.’
Many people who watched from home were moved to tears.
‘Catching up on the new episode of TheRepairShop. Oh, god, no… the chair… I’m already crying…’ Darren posted on X.
‘Absolutely bawling!’ he later added.
‘Amazing that something as mundane as a chair can evoke such memories. This is why everything in The Repair Shop is treated with such reverence. Glorious viewing,’ Steve shared.
Meanwhile others said they were caught off guard by how emotional they would become, while others praised the ‘beautiful job’ done to restore it.
The Repair Shop is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
