Emotional? Just a bit!

Long Lost Family is back on ITV, and series 15 started with two ‘deeply moving’ stories of separated brothers – and viewers were left sobbing into tissues.

Episode 1 (Thursday, September 18) told the heartbreaking story of a boy snatched from his mother’s arms as a baby. Peter MacDonald subsequently spent the rest of his life longing for the brother he was torn away from.

As presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell helped track Peter’s family down, there was good news and bad for the now 58-year-old painter and decorator.

And understandably, those watching at home were left feeling incredibly emotional…
The smiles said it all: Peter MacDonald and his brother Trevor on Long Lost Family [Credit: ITV]

Long Lost Family viewers had ‘tears before bedtime’

As the new series of Long Lost Family began, episode 1 celebrated the bond between brothers. It followed the stories of two different men, both of whom were looking for the siblings they were separated from as children.

In the first case, Lee Sharp’s adoptive parents had told him that he was a foundling, but the team discovered this wasn’t true… He had an older son called Stephen, who now lived in Inverness, Scotland. And had NO idea he had a sibling.

There were huge smiles – and tears – when they finally met in Eastbourne after more than 50 years apart, and agreed to get a WhatsApp group called Bruvs.

Meanwhile, Peter MacDonald was tragically snatched from his mother’s arms as a baby – and separated from his older brother Trevor. Peter was just two and a half months old when the “traumatic” event took place, “tearing” him away from his family. However, his father didn’t raise him. Instead, Peter ended up in care within months.

When Long Lost Family took on the case, they found Trevor.He told Nicky Campbell: “When mum got very ill, she started to talk a lot more, open up a lot more. She said ‘find Peter, look for him’.”

In a poignant moment, father-of-two Peter and older brother Trevor met in London on their late mother’s birthday. For the first time in 50 years, the brothers met and shared a tearful reunion. Peter shared: “Two brothers together and last. There is an automatic connection.”
Lee Sharp met the brother he didn’t know he had as Long Lost Family returned [Credit: ITV]

Viewers ‘bawling there eyes out’

As per usual, Long Long Family managed to break the viewers, who were left sobbing.

One said: “Bawling my eyes out #longlostfamily.”

Another said: “Own up, who’s chopping onions at this time of night? #longlostfamily.”

A third added: “Tears before bedtime #longlostfamily.”

“What a great start to the series!” said another, “brilliant, two bruvs together again! #longlostfamily.”

Others called the episode “unbelievably brilliant”, “heartbreaking”, and “emotional”.

“#LongLostFamily has me crying every time,” concluded another.