Its wheel is dented and rusted, its saddle is lost and its wobbly pedals are long past their best.
But this tired unicycle is a cherished memento of childhood for siblings Steven and Paula Prentice, and they felt only The Repair Shop could restore it.
It took a starring role on stage with their grandparents Lila and Cecil and then parents Dorothy and Peter, well-known unicycle and rope-spinning acts from the 1920s to the 1970s.
The El Granadas and Peter performed at the London Palladium and the Moulin Rouge in Paris and shared the bill with showbiz legends such as Judy Garland.
Steven and Paula’s mum Dorothy, now 94, gave her precious prop to her children be kept for future generations.
So when it was unearthed looking worse for wear they contacted top restorers from the hit BBC show.
Paula, 67, said: “Steven found the unicycle in my cellar and we were upset about the state it was in.
“I worried I’d disrespected my parents by not looking after it – it was a symbol of their life.”
Paula and Steven, who also have a brother called Richard, 68, see the unicycle as a reminder of their unusual upbringing.
They travelled across Britain and Europe while their parents performed.
Their mum, a dancer, met their father when both performed in Blackpool aged 17.
Dorothy joined his family act and learned the unicycle, which she rode while cracking ropes and spinning ribbons. Steven, 71, said: “It was hard for Mum, with three young kids, being in theatre in Southampton one night and Glasgow the next.
“In the end they settled in Deal, Kent, so we could go to school. My dad ran an entertainment company and did not want me to go in to the business. He refused to teach me to ride the unicycle.
“But my grandad secretly taught me. He and Nanny kept performing.
“Grandad was in his 70s when he fell in to an orchestra pit in a dark theatre and died three days later.
“Nanny had a new act with 10 dogs she’d taught to do tricks, and she had a little pocket sewn in to her costumes for their cooked liver rewards. She went in to an old people’s home for performers alongside Thora Hird and Alan Freeman.”
The unicycle was made specially for Dorothy by Rolls-Royce in the 1940s.
Repair Shop bike engineer Tim Gunn cleaned the chrome and fitted new spokes. Vintage leather was moulded into a new saddle, and he found vintage pedals to keep its authentic look.
Steven, a former Radio Caroline DJ who later set up a jingle company, could not resist riding the unicycle. It now has a special stand at Paula’s home in Deal.
She said: “It’s a real talking point. The fact it’s making us think of the people we loved and lost means the world.”
- The Repair Shop can be seen on BBC1 at 8pm on Wednesday.
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