Long Lost Family reconnects mum and daughter after cancer diagnosis

Viewers were in tears over the emotional instalment of the ITV series

From Wall To Wall 

LONG LOST FAMILY
Ep4  Sr 14
Monday 12th August 2024 on ITV1 and ITVX

Pictured: Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell

In this episode, two women search for siblings. 

The first has been hoping to find her brother ever since learning of the enormous burden of grief her mother carried after giving him up. Another woman, who during her own adoption had a strange sense she had a sister out there, finally gets confirmation of her intuition. 

Tracey Boyle had children of her own before she learned of her brother’s existence. Her mother, after a stay in hospital following a breakdown, finally confided in Tracey the enormous weight of grief she carried ever since, at the age of 16, her first-born son was prised from her hands and placed for adoption. Tracey’s determined to find him and let him know he was wanted.

Liz Allward was adopted as a baby, but always had an uncanny feeling that somewhere out there she had a biological sister. From the moment she found out she was right, she’s longed to meet her.

(C) Wall To Wall 

Photographer : Harry Page  

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Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell host Long Lost Family. (ITV)

Long Lost Family viewers were in tears as the show helped a woman who has been battling cancer find her daughter.

The ITV series - which is presented by TV stars Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell – sees people trying to track down lost relatives. Each episode sees the hosts investigating what happened and then, hopefully, locating and reuniting people with their absent loved ones.

Monday night's instalment (19 August) featured a woman named Charlotte, whose bid to find her daughter Tracy had gathered pace after she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

In the moving episode, she told how she had fallen pregnant when she was a teenager and had her baby girl, who she named Tracy. Her parents sent her to a mother and baby home, which she likened to a prison.

From Wall To Wall

Long Lost Family: SR14: Ep5 on ITV1 and ITVX

Pictured: Charlotte Barnish [searcher] and Sarah Tomlinson [found person].

This photograph is (C) Wall To Wall and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk.  This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms
Charlotte and Sarah were reunited after years apart. (ITV)

She decided it was not the place to raise a child and ended up putting her baby up for adoption. Now a grandmother, Charlotte told how determined she was to find the daughter who had always been in her heart.

The team managed to track down Tracy, now named Sarah. She shared that she'd had a happy life after being adopted and was very close to her adoptive mother but was open to meeting and getting to know her birth mum.

In a moving twist, McCall told Charlotte that Sarah had been found and wanted to meet her on the same day that she got her all clear from doctors.

Viewers were emotional as mother and daughter were brought together for a touching reunion that saw both in tears. Wiping her eyes, Charlotte admitted it felt like "heaven" to finally be hugging the daughter she had missed for so many years.

One fan wrote on X: "Lasted 15 mins before the Kleenex came out! Damn you Long Lost Family." "Time for my weekly hour long cry," said someone else.

"I think I must have some dust in my eye @NickyAACampbell," another viewer remarked. One said they were "sobbing" over the moving story.

"Gets the all clear from cancer & finds out her daughter’s been found in the same day," said another viewer. "That’s a pretty special day that."

Somebody else posted: "Long Lost Family is a beautiful programme to watch, heartbreaking and heartwarming. @ThisisDavina and @NickyAACampbell are so perfectly suited to this."

Viewers were moved as Charlotte and Sarah were reunited. (ITV screengrab)
Viewers were moved as Charlotte and Sarah were reunited. (ITV screengrab)

Charlotte and Sarah were struck by how similar they looked, with Sarah exclaiming when she first saw a picture of her biological mum: "Oh my goodness! She does actually look like me!" And viewers also saw the likeness.

"Charlotte and Sarah look so alike!" said one. "The resemblance between Sarah and Charlotte is amazing," somebody else commented on X.

"Bloody heck like mother like daughter," another fan agreed, saying it was "incredible".