The Repair Shop’s Suzie Fletcher recalls the devastating moment her late husband ‘accepted’ his terminal illness – after thanking her co-stars for helping her through her grief

Suzie Fletcher, from The Repair Shop, recalled the moment her late husband Jamie, known as Rob, “accepted” his terminal illness.

The show’s leather and saddle expert, 63, quickly became popular after joining her brother Steve on the show’s second season, and thanked her co-stars for helping her overcome his sorrow.

The couple were married for 15 years until Rob died suddenly from pancreatic cancer in 2013, which she said was a shock as they didn’t know he was ill.

Writing in her 2023 memoir The Sun Over The Mountains, Suzie said her husband became a different person after she fully accepted his fate and gave up trying to fight the illness.

“I saw the humiliation on his face. From that moment on, I began to see a different look on his face. I’ve seen the same thing in other terminally ill people.

She continued: “You see it in their eyes and you can trace it along their forehead. I realized it was a new beginning, Rob. An acceptance.”

“Until then he had fought hard, but now he has crossed that indiscernible line that divides life and letting go.”

Speaking Lorraine in 2021, Suzie revealed she hadn’t mourned the loss at the time and accepted it by appearing on the hit BBC show and thanked her co-stars for helping her grieve.

“The people who gather here care deeply about each other. If someone isn’t having a good day, we all pull together.

“The repair shop has definitely become my family. It was a pivotal moment for me where I realized I hadn’t grieved the loss of my husband and aunt. I had to change my whole life. It was all incredibly moving.

“It was a good moment to help me open up and move forward and it’s so relatable to viewers because everyone goes through loss.”

Suzie, originally from Oxfordshire, moved to America where she lived for 22 years and met her husband, who worked as a heavy equipment operator.

Shortly after her husband’s death, she returned to the UK and joined The Repair Shop in 2018 after being persuaded by her brother Steve, who specialized in clock repairs.

Speaking about her experience, she told the Telegraph: “Emotionally, physically, mentally, I was gone.

“But here, listening to other people’s stories, I realized that I was not alone.

“Here, you feel like you can say anything, and no one will judge you: they will wrap their arms around you, that heals my heart.

It comes after Suzie revealed Repair Shop show bosses often “change a lot” of the BBC schedule.

In an interview with The Sun, she admitted: “They edit quite a few things because I lose them quite frequently. I will have tears in my eyes.

“I very quickly get caught up in other people’s emotions. But I’ve stopped trying to hide it now because that’s exactly who I am: I accept it.

Suzie has the task and responsibility of restoring sentimental items, which often makes her very nervous.

She added: “Personally, I’m always very, very nervous because it’s always my first time working with this person. It’s very stressful waiting to see how they will react to what I did.