5 MINUTES WITH...

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell, back with more extraordinary and moving stories of folk desperate to find missing family…

This is series 11 – you must be proud of LLF’s enduring success?

Davina, 53: It’s interesting, because I thought Covid would make this series hard to film. But actually, it made it all the more poignant and pertinent. Nicky and I are so proud to be part of it. The reason it’s still going is because even though the theme of people looking for each other is still the same, every episode is different, because we’re all so different.

Congratulations on your BAFTA win for Born Without Trace! Davina: It was very unexpected, so even more lovely! Our contributors trust us with their life stories, and we take that responsibility very, very seriously. It’s just really lovely for all of our team to get this recognition because they so deserve it.

Nicky, 60: It was an incredible feeling. But it’s all about the people who have come to us for help and who we’ve found answers for – and they’ve given inspiration to others.

What can viewers expect from the new series?

Nicky: Many more fascinating stories. And the fact that some of the reunions had to be done on Zoom or at a distance almost made them more powerful. In some cases, people were able to take Covid tests to enable them to embrace if they wanted to, but there were reunions where they couldn’t touch each other or hug, and those were some of the most powerful that we’ve had, it was amazing.

Davina: I think I’d be right in saying we have Roy as our oldest ever contributor at 86, and he’s such a lovely man. In our first episode, Dominic Matteo is searching for his birth mother. Having battled a brain tumour in 2019, this has become so much more important.