The hit BBC show DIY SOS has returned with a heartwarming episode changing the life of a girl with a rare genetic disease, as one show worker pulls back the curtain on what its host is like after 26 years of fame. Nick Knowles has run DIY SOS since its debut in 1999, making him the longest running presenter of a show of this format. Renovating hundreds of homes over the years for those in need, whether they have hit a rough spot financially or have a child in need whoneeds specific care, the 63-year-old has changed many lives over his career. 

Now, one of the thousands of volunteers the programme has taken on has spoken out of Knowles’ true colours. Emma Jane Strettan posted on Instagram saying: “As a team who have taken part in one of these incredible builds recently, it really does happen in the timescales and what is accomplished is truly breathtaking, it takes an army of incredibly selfless souls who pull together as the biggest team you could ever possibly witness. Absolutely sensational. Nick, Gaby and all the DIY SOS team we all know and love from the show are there morning, noon and night with everyone else, they don’t leave until the last person leaves, what they do is just awe inspiring. “

“Huge congrats on the new season guys, and thank you for lettering us be apart of it. An experience we will remember for the rest of our lives.” Knowles posted the comment to his 315,000 followers saying “From someone who knows what it’s like to volunteer on a @bbcdiysos – thought you might be interested to hear from them.”

The most recent episode follows mum Stacey and her daughter Isla who has mandibuloacral dysplasia, which makes her bones brittle and causes her major organs to age prematurely, making mobility a big challenge, as per the BBC.

The DIY SOS team said it received more than 2,000 volunteer applications, including commenter Emma’s, to help renovate Isla’s home in the West Midlands. Ultimately 160 volunteers embarked on lowering switches and door handles to make them accessible to Isla, also creating a downstairs bathroom.

Stacey said: “It really hit when we stepped out on to the front of the house to wish everyone good luck just before the build. Thank you was never going to be enough. It never has. We appreciate every single thing, and they didn’t just help make a house accessible for Isla — they have changed every single one of our lives.”

The Leicester girl said of her newly transformed Aylestone home, “I love it. I can get around the house more easily.” One commenter on Knowles’ post said: “I saw what you chaps accomplished in Longframlington, Northumberland in the short time you had and it was phenomenal.

“My other highlight of that week was seeing you on the way back to the build from having a break and looking pretty shattered but with the happiest of looks on your face as you were clearly loving every second. If I hadn’t have been driving at the time I’d have stopped you for a quick chat!”

Ian Hodgkinson, DIY SOS project manager, said the project was a heartwarming showcase of what can happen when tradespeople pushed the limits of what was possible in eight days to transform someone else’s life.

He said: “It’s difficult to put it into words. It was unbelievable. The response was absolutely phenomenal. Within the first couple of days there were 800 emails, within a week there were 2,000, and it kept on going. 250 people somehow came together and created a little miracle.”

Nick Knowles, DIY SOS presenter enthused about the show’s return saying, “I think it will remind people how many good, generous people there are across the country willing to help out others in their time of need.”