Family appears on DIY SOS after dad's sudden death

The family of a man who died suddenly has had help renovating their home as part of TV show.

Mum Georgina and her three children are set to feature on BBC show DIY SOS who helped them renovate their "doer-upper" home which she bought with her husband Chris.

She said Chris died very suddenly aged 43 in August 2025 and she was left with a house in Feniton, Devon which needed "everything doing".

"It's a house built on something tragic," Georgina said.

"On top of shock and grief, it was a bit of a panic as well at the time about how on earth I was going to manage in the future."

Chris, who was a multi-trade engineer mainly in carpentry, was halfway through renovating the family home when he passed away.

Georgina said as a parent to her daughters Flick, 10, Eliza, 8 and Hugo, 4, she could not stop and had to do her best to keep things going for them.

The mum-of-three, who is an assistant ecologist, said: "Children are really good at living in the moment, so they kept me going at the time, and they keep me going now."

Three months after losing Chris, her friend signed her up for the show after jokingly mentioning it.

"Everything moved extremely fast," Georgina said.

"The programme and everything going kept me going for a while."

Presented by Nick Knowles, DIY SOS has been helping families and individuals since 1999 and call on local communities to help with the projects.

Knowles told BBC Radio Devon there had been 20 series and this one had been one of the most emotional so far.

He said: "Historically I've been pretty good at maintaining and managing to keep my emotions in but this series absolutely broke me.

"You will see me balling my eyes out at various stages."

He said Georgina had been left in a "building site" and "unable to start to process this and help her children process that loss".

He said about 600 people helped transform their home and garden which "allowed her time to grieve rather than worrying about the house".

She said having her home renovated was "bitter-sweet" because her partner, who was a carpenter, was not there to enjoy the finished house.

"When you have children, it's not about you, it's about having a safe and secure home.

"Having the support of your neighbours, friends, and colleagues even and everything around you is everything when you lose the closest person to you."

The episode airs on Tuesday at 20:00 BST on BBC One.

She said during filming, the team was extremely supportive and brilliant "every step of the way".

Georgina said the camera crews were really good with her children, especially with her daughter who has autism and struggled with all the change.

"They helped us through it, and they were absolutely amazing - proper human beings."

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