The key facts

  • DIY SOS, which has aired since 1999 and is currently showing its 35th series, will be 'rested' in 2027.
  • Instead, the BBC has commissioned a more cost-effective spin-off, DIY SOS Rebuilt My Life, from South Shore.
  • The decision was made as part of a plan to save £500 million over three years; sources denied The Sun's reports of the show being fully axed.

Programme 'rested' for cost savings

The long-running home renovation programme DIY SOS will be 'rested' next year due to 'financial pressures', the BBC has said. It will be replaced by a spin-off featuring material from past episodes. Sources denied The Sun newspaper's reports that the programme is being axed as part of a cost-cutting plan.

About the programme and its history

The host of DIY SOS is Nick Knowles. The show's team renovates homes of families facing serious illness, disability, bereavement or building disasters. The programme first aired in 1999 and is currently in its 35th series on BBC One and iPlayer. Starting with small renovations, the show moved over time to larger-scale projects: in 2015, hundreds of volunteers, together with Knowles and Princes William and Harry, built housing for veterans in Manchester, and in 2018 William returned in a two-part special dedicated to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire — then a new community centre was built and the Dale Youth boxing club, destroyed in the fire, was restored.

BBC statement and reaction

A BBC spokesperson said: 'In light of the BBC's financial pressures, we have decided to rest DIY SOS in 2027 and instead commission a new spin-off from producers South Shore. DIY SOS Rebuilt My Life will revisit the successes of past years and extend the brand across the BBC in a more cost-effective way next year.' The decision was made as part of the corporation's campaign to save £500 million over three years; Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind and Live At The Apollo have already been axed previously.

The latest episode

In the most recent episode, the team renovated a family's home so that their 17-year-old son Dan, who has complex impairments, could receive treatment at home after more than three years in hospital. Dan's father, Nigel, called what happened 'a miracle'.

Nick Knowles smiles in front of a building site in a hard hat with his name on itImage source, BBC/South Shore
Image caption,

The programme, presented by Nick Knowles, will be replaced by a "more cost-effective" spin-off show revisiting past projects

A young Nick Knowles posing perched on scaffolding inside a mid-renovation property
Image caption,

Knowles, pictured in 2000, became a household name after the show's early success

Prince William, Prince Harry and Nick Knowles, all in hard hats as Knowles talks and gestures to something out of frame
Image caption,

Brothers William and Harry joined Knowles in a 2015 episode

A crowd of people wearing high-visibility safety vests and hard hats gather outside a house transformed by BBC One's DIY SOS team. In the centre foreground, is Dan who has brown hair holding his mum, Julie's hand. He is smiling. On the right, a camera operator films the scene. Several people are wearing hard hats with signatures or handwritten markings, and hi-vis vests. Bright sunlight illuminates the group.Matt Brittin standing in front of a bank of screens, including one with the BBC logoBradley Walsh on the set of Blankety Blank