When DIY SOS goes wrong: Family in Cheltenham not the first scandal
When DIY SOS goes wrong: Vulnerable family in Cheltenham are not the first scandal to hit the BBC show after squeezed renovations, troll abuse, a crooked carpenter and even a Shreddies crisis
A family in Cheltenham may be the latest to play host to a home improvement fallout at the hands of BBC’s DIY SOS team – but they are far from the first.
Peter Chapman, 64, is currently embroiled in a dispute with the programme’s producers after alleging a series of bungled DIY jobs carried out in February 2020.
Mr Chapman claims the ‘poor workmanship’ of the renovations has made it impossible to live comfortably with his wife Sarah and daughter Suzanne, who both have a debilitating muscle function disorder, as well as his brother who has autism.
Leaked correspondence before the show aired in June 2022 also shows that Mr Chapman at loggerheads with producers over the renovations, who offered some remedial work ‘as a gesture of goodwill’.
Here, we delve deep into some of the show’s other renovation dramas that have hit the headlines in recent years.
Left to right: Peter’s brother Steve, wife Sarah, Peter and daughter Suzanne outside their home in Cheltenham
Cracks in the wall in the hallway of Mr Chapman’s home that they now want to move from
READ MORE: PICTURED – THE DIY SOS ‘BODGES’ BLIGHTING THE LIVES OF A VULNERABLE FAMILY WHO FEATURED ON HIT BBC SHOW
Left to right, Peter’s wife Sarah, Peter, Peter’s brother Steve and daughter Suzanne today as they revealed to MailOnline they are going to leave their home
In May 2019, disabled father Stuart Philp was left dismayed after Nick Knowles and the BBC’s DIY SOS team botched a home renovation job designed to accommodate his blind mother.
Mr Philp’s £200,000 semi-detached house in Torquay, Devon, was the subject of an episode of the show filmed 15 months ago and broadcast last night.
But the 44-year-old wheelchair user, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, is now forced to stare at a blank wall all day after the builders failed to complete an extension which would give him a view over the Moors.
And his blind mother Lin, 73, is equally disheartened after she was left with a room so small that she cannot even squeeze a chair into it.
‘One of the things I really wanted was to be able to look out at the view over the Moors – but I am facing the wall,’ Stuart told Devon Live.
He also said that his mother had been more comfortable in her previous home after moving into the tiny room designed by the DIY SOS team.
Stuart added: ‘Mum was much happier where she was before. She had friends and she had more space.’
And Lin, who lost her sight in the 1980s, said: ‘I haven’t even got room for a chair. It’s been very difficult. We didn’t want to appear ungrateful. The people who were doing the volunteering were amazing.’
Stuart’s 17-year-old daughter Lauren’s bedroom was also downsized in the revamp.
Stuart Philp (centre), 44, owner of a £200,000 semi-detached house in Torquay, Devon, was the subject of an episode of the show 15 months ago
He was left dismayed after Nick Knowles (left) and the BBC’s DIY SOS team botched a home renovation job designed to accommodate his blind mother Lin (second right)
The army of DIY SOS volunteers transformed the house of the father with multiple sclerosis
But Stuart was also keen not to appear ungrateful and hailed the team for their hard work.
He said: ‘Don’t get me wrong – it’s lovely. We are so grateful and we don’t want to sound greedy.’
He lauded the team for an ‘amazing’ job, especially for fixing a battered kitchen wall, but was a bit bothered that the place is now cramped.
And another blunder saw the decorators painting Lin’s room bright pink, which she had objected to.
But, because she is blind, she did not know and was not told about the mistake during the big reveal.
The purpose of Lin moving in with Stuart was so that she could provide round the clock care for him
Lin’s (pictured) room was so small that the blind mother could not even squeeze a chair into it
Stuart said: ‘They had to squeeze everything into the existing small house space and house three people where there had been two. It’s not the BBC’s fault.
‘I think that’s why they did such a great job with the back garden – to compensate for the extension not going ahead.’
He also struggles to get his wheelchair through both of the property’s doors but he and his mother, despite saying it’s been tough to live in, are grateful for the new-look property.
A BBC spokesperson said the DIY SOS team kept the Philps, like all contributors, consulted throughout the build ‘to ensure the design will meet their specific needs.’
They added: ‘We remained in touch with the Philps family regularly after filming to address and resolve their concerns as quickly as possible.’
In July 2020, DIY SOS carpenter Ian Lewis McCormack was jailed after running a ‘toxic’ £220,000 Facebook furniture fraud empire
McCormack, then aged 29, of Hull, was given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence after his lies and excuses spiralled out of control, Hull Daily Mail reports.
He and accomplice Steven Watson, also 29, of east Hull, set up their ‘car crash of a business’ in July 2016. They named themselves company directors and advertised furniture for sale at bargain prices on Facebook’s ‘buy and sell’ sites.
Hull Crown Court heard orders came flooding in and the business found it impossible to keep up with demand.
The firm began taking deposits for orders that were never dispatched, or if they were, sometimes left in an unsafe state.
After complaints were made to Trading Dtandards, McCormack ignored a cease and desist letter, leading to his conviction.
Addressing it: Nick Knowles has addressed the axing conflict from DIY SOS and confirmed it is ‘sorted now’
Elsewhere, in May last year, Northamptonshire couple Colin and Jackie Hutchison featured on the show with their son whose son has cerebral palsy and were thrilled with the changes to their home.
But their happiness changed to heartbreak after they were attacked by a series of online trolls, forcing them off social media, Birmingham Live reports.
The couple even had to change their phone number over the abuse.
The couple had waited two and a half years for the episode to air as a result of the Covid crisis.
Mrs Hutchison said: ‘There was a rumour going round we sold our house and moved to Dubai.
‘I’m just thankful that it is going on air and people can see that we are very much still loving every second of our life in our home and we will never, ever be selling our house.’
The couple’s teenager, who also has epilepsy, needed specialist equipment to help him at home.
His mother added: ‘We were the lucky ones to get it just before Covid hit, but unfortunately that meant we’ve had to wait nearly two and half years for it to be aired which has most probably caused all of these problems that have come our way.’
‘[Jordan] is completely independent now, in terms of washing himself and going to the toilet himself – it’s given him his independence and dignity.’
Awkward: The presenter was dropped from a special of the show after starring in an advert for the Shreddies, going against the broadcaster’s guidelines (pictured on DIY SOS)
Clearing it up: Talking on the situation during an appearance on This Morning on Friday, Nick described the absence as a ‘misunderstanding’, before assuring that it is ‘sorted now’
In May 2022, DIY SOS host Nick Knowles, 59, spoke out over his absence from the programme after a conflict with the BBC over a cereal campaign.
The presenter was dropped from a special of the show after starring in an advert for Shreddies, going against the broadcaster’s guidelines.
Talking on the situation during an appearance on This Morning on Friday, Nick described the absence as a ‘misunderstanding’, before assuring that it is ‘sorted now’.
When quizzed by Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on the daytime show, Nick replied: ‘It was a bit odd but I knew that it was only for the one show.
‘It was basically a misunderstanding – we sorted it all out – but it meant that I couldn’t do that one show.
‘Giving his stand-in, Rhod Gilbert, the seal of approval, Nick continued: ‘But then Rhod came in and Rhod is such a lovely lad and he got emotionally involved with the whole story so I thought he did a great job.’
Nick moved on swiftly from the topic, as he went on to explain what filming was like during Covid-19.
The axing came after 23 years on the show, as Nick missed out on the Children in Need special of DIY SOS.
Despite playing the absence off as a ‘misunderstanding’, the presenter has previously admitted that he ‘regrets’ doing the ad campaign.
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