A family were left in tears after the family they swapped with on TV show Rich House, Poor House offered to pay off most of their debt.
Sarah and Ross Timmins, from Cornwall, have two children aged five and two, but despite both working they found themselves struggling to make ends meet due to a number of high-interest credit card debt.
Twenty-eight-year old Ross, who works on a farm, and Sarah, 29, a hairdresser owed £11,500 and were often left with just £121 a week to live off. They said that due to the high interest on the six cards, the £500 they paid each month was only covering the interest and not actually tackling the overall amount they owed.
On the other end of the spectrum was veterinary surgeons Lizzy and Colin Whiting, who also have two kids. They live in a five-bedroom house in Newquay and, after bills, have a weekly spending allowance of £1,235.
The two families, who had never met, agreed to swap lives on the TV show and at the end of the experiment, Colin and Lizzy decided to gift the Timmins family £8,000 to help pay off their debts.
When Sarah and Ross returned home, they found a letter from the Whitings, which read: "Dear Ross and Sarah, we have learned how tough things are for you financially.
"We would like to help you clear your credit card debt."
Bloody hell, has someone been chopping onions in here?
Colin said: "I've done a lot of learning in my life, but I've never learned more than what I've learnt this week. It's seeing the world through those different eyes.
"Once we had come to an understanding we decided that we wanted to help this family to move away from that situation, from the debt dragging them down."
Viewers were equally as moved by the show:
Ross told the camera: "For a family to have stepped in our shoes and offer the gesture they have, and never have met us is something I never thought could have existed."
What a lovely couple.
Rich House, Poor House airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Channel 5.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 5/Hat Trick ProductionsTopics: Entertainment, TV and Film, UK
