Long Lost Family
Nicky Campbell and Davina Mccall on the lessons they’ve learnt from seven years of reuniting relatives
Long Lost Family tuesday / ITV / 9Pm
1 don’t put things off davina:
You think, ‘I’ve got all the time in the world to do that.’ But sometimes you haven’t, life happens and you might miss something. If you want to do something, then do it. That’s not just relevant to looking for your family; I hear from lots of people saying, ‘I wish I had done such and such sooner. Why did I wait so long?’
Often it’s down to fear and that’s terrible because a life lived in fear is a life half-lived. With all our people featured on Long Lost Family, at least they learn something that means they can move on. The worstcase scenario is that you get bad news that somebody doesn’t want to be contacted, but at least you know. Being stuck in limbo is worse.
2 Tv can change lives nicky:
When you work in TV, it’s sometimes seen as superficial and here today and gone tomorrow. But being a part of a programme like Long Lost Family, which makes someone’s world a better place, is incredibly fulfilling and something I will never ever forget. I thank my lucky stars every day I am doing this.
3 secrets can destroy families
davina: Family secrets can ruin lives and generations. Often families only find out things after someone has died or on their deathbed. I remember Maureen Charlton, who we caught up with on Long Lost Family: What Happened Next. Her brother Michael was chucked out of the house at 21, when she was 14 and she never knew why and it was just because he was gay. She’d thought he was a criminal or had some big scandal attached to him. It was terrible.
4 everyone has a story davina:
Everybody wants to share something with us. Because we do this show, people feel that they can talk to us about all sorts of things – not just family issues – that they can’t talk to somebody else about. That is an enormous privilege. nicky: It can happen at the most unusual moments. I was sitting on a plane waiting to take off to do a Long Lost Family story and one of the stewards said, ‘I love the show. I never knew my father.’ Then it was, ‘Seatbelts on,’ but I wanted to hear more! He did come back to speak to me and he had the most amazing story. Sometimes I wish I had a tape-recorder to record all this stuff, it’s great.
5 You can’t control your emotions
nicky:
We were filming with one lady this series and her relative had died and she suddenly said, ‘I’ve written a poem with his thoughts in mind.’ I thought, ‘Please don’t read the poem!’ It was so lovely but by the end I had gone. davina: I cry less as I’ve got older, but when I cry it’s uncontrollable.
I cry about everything
I haven’t cried about for months. I had it once on [ITV’S] This
Time Next Year. This guy had learned to read and write so he could send a letter to his girlfriend to say how much he loved her. I couldn’t speak because it was the nicest thing.
6 My co-star rocks! nicky:
Cover your ears Davina! I already knew before I met Davina that she was an extraordinary person but working with her has shown me that she is just amazing and cares about other people so much. It’s a joyous thing to see her deliver news to someone and she’s brilliant at it. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. davina: I think exactly the same way about you. I was a little bit frightened about you before I met you but now I absolutely love you! It has been a revelation. I’m usually with the searcher and you’re with the person who’s found. You’d be good at my role and I could do yours but there’s a different energy – it’d take me a while to get my head round it.
7 adoption can be wonderful
davina:
Long Lost Family shows how amazing adoption is when it works well. So many people have had really beautiful adoptions. You’d think it would be scary, the idea of, ‘What happens if I lose my child to a biological parent? They are just going to forget about me.’ But so many adoptive parents are selfless and have spent their whole lives saying, ‘I’ll support you in your search, I am behind you all the way.’ nicky: I’m adopted and an ambassador for Adoption UK. I had the best parents, who were completely understanding. They saw that it doesn’t threaten anything at all; it is providing you with context and answers. When I was adopted by Mum and Dad, it was the greatest day. Mum is now 95 and still drives and is a force of nature. I’ve learned so much from her. She told me from the word go that I was adopted and that I was special. That has been the bane of my life ever since!
Long Lost family is previewed on pages 60-61
Long Lost
Family shows how amazing adoption is when
it works well
Davina Mccall