Monday 25th February 2019 saw the release of a one off special of the ‘Long Lost Family’ franchise: ‘Born Without Trace’. Ariel Bruce and her team, Julia Bell and Charlotte Bruce Lloyd, worked tirelessly for many months alongside the producers Wall to Wall Media and presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell to bring this ’emotional rollercoaster of a show’ to ITV1.

Using DNA detective work Ariel and her team were able to piece together the backstories of the 3 foundlings featured; Jamie, Karen and Ally, setting up Long Lost Family regular presenters Davina and Nicky to drop the emotional bombshells and had viewers all over the country reaching for the Kleenex.

This episode shows how the mysteries surrounding foundlings shape entire lives. Each person expresses a need to know where they came from in order to know who they are. There is no judgment, which is touching and lovely, and they all talk about the trauma their birth mothers must have experienced.

The Guardian’s Chitra Ramaswamy gave the show 4 our of 5 stars, also lifting Karen’s sentiments for a well fitting three-word review: “my heart hurts”.

You can read the full Guardian review by clicking here

Twitter also exploded during the show, with the hashtags ‘Born Without Trace’ and ‘Long Lost Family’ trending throughout the UK. You can head over to Ariel’s Twitter Feed to read all of the best conversations about the show. A selection can also be found below:

Presenter Nicky Campbell took to Twitter to thank the research team, as well as all the contributors.

Fans of the show expressed their emotional response to the program via Twitter

If you missed the original showing you can catch up in the UK on the ITV Hub. Watch the full show again by clicking here – ITV HUB