Reunited father and son now speak 'every week'

Andy McNicol, from Walsall, has been reunited with his son John, who was given up for adoption entirely against his father’s wishes, for TV show Long Lost Family.

The pair’s emotional reunion after John was tracked down living in Australia was aired last night.

Earlier yesterday, they appeared on Good Morning Britain and told of how their relationship has grown since they were first reunited.

Mr McNicol,74, discovered John’s mother, Brenda, was pregnant just two years into their relationship.

After hearing she had given birth on June 3, 1970, he went straight to the hospital to see the baby but was not allowed into the ward.

He said that Brenda’s his then wife’s family were against them having a child and told him that he would have ‘nothing to do with it’.

A few months after the adoption, Andy met Hazel, who’s now his wife of 45 years and filled in the Long Lost Family application form which led to their amazing reconciliation.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain yesterday, Mr McNicol revealed that since the show was filmed, they have developed a strong bond.

He said: “It is unfortunate that I can’t go over and see him myself but he phones me every week.

“Every Thursday morning on the dot he calls me, we have an hour’s chat, put the world to rights and sort everything out.

“He has promised he has come back over to see me again so I can live with that.

“I thought it would never happen, me and my wife were watching Long Lost Family and I went to bed, she filled out the form and didn’t tell me because if nothing came of it I would be disappointed again.”

Son John, who joined his father in the studio via video link, spoke of his thoughts over the years as an adopted child and his relief at being put in contact with his real father.

He said: “It has been great for me to find a father. It is hard to explain but it is amazing. I know the true story now and I couldn’t wish for a better father to turn up.

“We have filled all the gaps and it is nice to know that I was always wanted, that is the main thing.”

Between them, Mr McNicol and his wife Hazel, 72, now have 12 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. They have also fostered 15 youngsters over the past 15 years, one of whom, 19-year-old Tyler, still lives with them.

Last October, Davina McCall travelled to Walsall to let Mr McNicol know his son had been found. In an emotional reveal, he was flabbergasted by the news.

After decades spent apart, the pair were re-united just outside Bath, the city where John was born.

John, who was raised by loving adoptive parents in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, together with an adopted sister, emigrated to Australia in March 2013 to be with his wife Claudia, whom he’d met while she was holidaying in the UK, and his stepdaughter.

John was also told that his mother Brenda had sadly died in a car accident more than 40 years earlier. He has contacted relatives on his biological mother’s side since then.