Prized

The Repair Shop expert Kirsten Ramsey was on hand to help restore a prized Pride of Birmingham Award, which was accidentally smashed

A mum was left feeling terribly guilty after accidentally breaking her son’s most prized possession while doing the housework.

During Wednesday’s (October 21) episode of The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn, BBC viewers saw ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsey tasked with fixing an award statuette belonging to Mikey Akers from Coventry. In a cutaway scene, viewers saw Mikey alongside his mum Louisa share more about the incredible story behind the award.

In 2018, Mikey was 16 years old when he won a Pride of Birmingham Award for his tireless campaigning to raise awareness about verbal dyspraxia, after being diagnosed with the rare neurological speech disorder when he was two.

Mikey struggled to learn to speak and, throughout his childhood, needed intensive speech therapy to find his voice.

When he was 13, he wrote a poem called I Am The Boy about his struggles and set up campaign organisation, Mikey’s Wish, to raise awareness and support other young people with the condition.

Louisa explained: “It affects the messages from the brain to the mouth, and they struggle to move the muscles and the nerves in order to form the sounds needed for speech.”

Speaking about his diagnosis, Mikey added: “Growing up with verbal dyspraxia was quite lonely. People outside of my family struggled to understand what I was saying. It was quite common that people thought I weren’t as intelligent because of my speech. It was very frustrating.”

Mike was ecstatic with the Pride of Birmingham award and called it his “proudest achievement”; however, the angel-like trophy was damaged when Louisa knocked it off a shelf while doing housework, shattering it. “When it shattered, I was mortified. I felt so guilty”, Louisa told the camera.

Back at the Repair Shop, Kirsten was determined to make the award look brand-new again and said, “You don’t get this unless you’ve done something quite extraordinary.”

The expert explained that it would be tricky to recreate the award’s shiny surface because of all the broken pieces that would need to be reattached.

As Mikey and Louisa visited the barn to collect the award from Kirsten, Louisa said she “just wanted to see it back in one piece again.”

Miraculously, Kirsten had managed to make the award statuette look brand new, leaving Mikey elated. “Oh wow, Thank you”, he told Kirsten while Louisa joked: “The guilt has gone”, as the mother and son giggled.

“I am proud of him”, Louisa added as Mikey confirmed: “It brings me back to when I first got it, it’s a nice feeling.”

Kirsten commented: “You’re clearly an inspiration to many, many people, which really spurred me on to try and do the best job that I possibly could, and It’s ready to go back to whatever safe spot you’ve got for it. “

The Repair Shop Beyond the Barn is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

DANNY Cipriani’s ex wife Victoria Rose has taken a savage swipe at the rugby star as she sells off his “prized possessions” for £850.

Victoria, who was married to Danny from 2021 to 2024, has suggested a dark side to the former England rugby union star that requires the help of a priest.

She’s now flogging his old rugby kits, international caps and even his old kit bags on Vinted.

And Victoria wrote on social media alongside a personalised England Rugby bag: “What I’m finding inside some of these bags, I’m learning far more about my ex husband than I ever needed to know. Some of it needs a priest, not a Vinted listing.”

Victoria also said of his old Gloucester top: “As you know, guys, I’ve put this up for sale a few times and then taken it straight back down again.

“It was one of his most prized possessions, so I’ve always found this one particularly hard to let go of.

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“But the truth is, it can’t mean more to me than it did to him. So. it’s back online.”

Victoria is selling the gear after claiming that he has left her in financial woe.

She revealed earlier this year she was taking legal action against him.

She posted: “I take no pleasure in posting this, but when someone else’s debts end up on your doorstep, silence stops being an option.

“Sorry to drop this on such a gorgeous day, but let’s be clear: I have zero qualms airing this publicly.

“My ex-husband once happily sold a pack of lies about me to the press, lies that dragged me through two brutal years of court hell before I was fully exonerated and proven innocent. He didn’t lose a second’s sleep over how that wrecked my life, so forgive me if I return exactly the same courtesy now.

 “This morning I woke up to bailiffs banging on my door and my car clamped. My car.

“Because the system decided that a debt racked up by my ex, after we’d already separated, in his name, his responsibility, gets to magically teleport across the Atlantic and land on me in the UK while he ghosts every letter, email, and demand sent his way.

“I had to pay his debt today just to get my car unclamped and back in my driveway. Not my bill.

“Not my problem, except it became my problem because he’s untouchable in LA.

“Meanwhile, Danny’s over there in the States, blissfully “connecting with his inner child,” chatting mystical dragons with his girlfriend, posting about soul growth and manifesting miracles.

“How touching. Shame the actual, physical world bills don’t manifest the same level of enlightenment; they just keep boomeranging back here for someone else to sort out.

“Receipts are kept, proof is solid, and today the emails start flying, including straight to the embassy.

“Because the same man currently trying to charm his way into US residency can’t even handle basic adult responsibilities in the country he left behind. If you can’t face your debts here, you don’t deserve the privilege of pretending to be squeaky clean somewhere else.

“Take responsibility for your own actions, Daniel. This is your public warning! I’m initiating proceedings for your DEBT!!!!”

Victoria previously claimed he left her to cover the £16,000-a-month household bills and tens of thousands of pounds of debt.

But Danny alleged she had stolen money from his ill mother and was guilty of financial misconduct towards him

She said: “He took the allegations to the police and I was subject to a criminal investigation for seven months.

“I didn’t steal anything from Danny or his mum and have been cleared by a court of wrongdoing. It was a lie.”

The former star and Victoria officially filed for divorce in August 2024, nine months after their bitter break-up.

Danny has since moved on with American actress AnnaLynne McCord.

The couple tied the knot on in August 2026, in an intimate backyard ceremony at their home in Los Angeles.