Rebecca Bissonnet missed the call to The Repair Shop because she was too busy buying cakes.
The textile expert, who once repaired Queen Elizabeth’s coronation dress, will appear in the upcoming series of the BBC restoration show alongside Jay Blades and the team. But when her bosses initially tried to contact her, she didn’t answer the phone.
The Daily Star newspaper’s Hot TV column states: ‘The Repair Shop called me because they were looking for a textile expert.
“They had found my details on my website and I had actually missed the call because I had only popped into the village shop next door to buy cherry pie.
“I called back and had a nice conversation, followed by a Zoom call and that was it!”
The new six-part series starts on April 10th and she really enjoyed filming it.
She added: “Some of the things that are brought in would be very expensive to repair because they are so time consuming. The work on site is so intensive.
“So we’re helping to restore, repair and conserve items, and making conservation possible for people who don’t necessarily have the means to have the items restored themselves. It means the items are now future-proofed and will last for many years to come.”
Rebecca – whose Irish dance dress has to be extensively repaired in the second episode – has previously worked as a restorer at places such as Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace.
For the upcoming series, the team have travelled across the UK, from the linen mills of Northern Ireland to an Italian treasure that has found a home in Liverpool.
Repairs include cowboy boots with a wild connection to Sir Elton John, a Roald Dahl gate and even a World War II code-breaking cookbook.
Jay Blades said: “The show is going from strength to strength and I think that’s simply because it’s about community. It’s about working together as a team and achieving a common goal for someone.”
“It was great to welcome Rebecca to the stables. She just fit in like a glove and it’s always special to be able to learn different skills from different people.”
“We can’t wait to share these new episodes.”
