DIY SOS staff dress-up as Sam Ryder as he visits for Children In Need special

Singers Sam Ryder and Sophie Ellis-Bextor have visited the DIY SOS team as they make improvements to a hospice for a BBC Children In Need special.

The work to create a new centre for bereaved children and young people at Treetops Hospice in Risley, Derbyshire, will be shown during a Thursday episode of the BBC series.

When Ryder arrived at the site in September to lend his support, he was greeted by the DIY SOS team wearing wigs similar to his own long blonde locks.

The Eurovision star, 34, joked that the workers could have their hair caught in drills and hoped they were not keeping the wigs “near a naked flame” before helping construct a tree sculpture.

Sam Ryder meets his doppelgangers on the DIY SOS build for Children In Need (BBC Studios)

Ryder said: “Arriving on a building site to be greeted by a sea of blonde (and very flammable looking) wigs was a bit bonkers, but what a day we had.

“It was absolutely magic to be a small cog in a vast and wonderful construction machine for such an amazing cause alongside the DIY SOS legends – I even got to knock the rust off some of my old carpentry skills, so apologies in advance for the dodgy doors.”

Sophie Ellis Bexter at the Children In Need Special 2023 episode of DIY SOS (BBC Studios)

The building, which took 10 days to construct, will deliver support and counselling that is tailored to the needs of children.

Ellis-Bextor surprised the volunteers and tradespeople with a celebratory kitchen disco as the new building was shown to Treetops Hospice staff.

Other famous faces at the site include BBC Radio 2 presenters Jeremy Vine and Owain Wyn Evans, DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles, radio DJ Scott Mills and Children In Need mascot Pudsey Bear.

The Children In Need Special 2023 episode of DIY SOS airs Thursday on BBC One at 9pm.