ITV’s This Morning studio was taken over by 50 mothers and their children with Down’s Syndrome – after their heart-warming video showing them ‘singing’ along in the car using sign language went viral.
Presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield welcomed the newly internet-famous families onto the daytime show, with Phillip joking that they knew the live segment would be ‘beautiful chaos’.
While many of the children sat quietly on their mother’s laps, a few fidgety youngsters grew tired of the interview and began crawling along the fluffy rug, or running into the arms of their fathers, who were watching from behind the cameras.
And at one point Phil had his nose pinched by one playful tot sitting beside him, as the presenters were preparing to recreate the heart-warming performance along with their special guests.
Holly and Phil had learned how to sign along with the parents and their children as the song played out in the studio, in a scene hailed by viewers as ’emotional’ and ‘absolutely beautiful’.
The clip it was inspired by showed families from across the UK using Makaton – a form of sign language – to join in with the lyrics to Christina Perri’s song A Thousand Years in the style of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke.
Presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield were joined by 50 mothers and their children to celebrate Down’s Syndrome Day which is on March 21
The presenters joined in with the families to recreate the performance from the Carpool Karaoke clip that went viral of them signing along to Christina Perri’s 1,000 years
Phillip laughed as he was playfully pinched on the nose by one cheeky youngster who was sat beside him on the couch
Viewers watching the segment at home took to Twitter to share how emotional it had made them
The moving video had caught the attention of the 39-year-old presenter online, who hailed it as ‘beautiful’ and admitted it had ‘made him cry’.
The four-and-a-half minute clip, titled ’50 Mums, 50 Kids, 1 Extra Chromosome’, has since gone viral and has been viewed more than 250,000 times on YouTube.
The video was released to mark World Down’s Syndrome Day on March 21, and is being shared using the hashtag #wouldntchangeathing.
One of the mothers who helped to come up with the idea, Becky, told Phillip and Holly: ‘We want to put out a positive message [about Down’s Syndrome].
‘The barriers tend to be the perception that people have,’ she added.
Those watching the segment at home took to Twitter, with one writing: ‘My heart can’t even cope with what i just watched. Beautiful.’
Another said: ‘Absolutely gorgeous children on This Morning made me emotional watching them all perform.’
The children, who all have Down’s Syndrome, wandered across the studio with one running into the arms of his father who was watching behind the camera
One youngster discovered a fondness for the fluffy rug and took a quick rest, lying down while the mothers were interviewed by Holly and Phil
All the mothers wanted to help raise awareness for their campaign, the message being they ‘wouldn’t change a thing’ about their children and hoped the world would change its perception
People took to social media to share how much they’d enjoyed watching Holly and Phil take part in signing the song
Another mother, Cathy Straight who was sat alongside her son Teddy on Tuesday’s show, explained how she paid for a screening to test for Down’s Syndrome, and the results revealed her baby had a 99.1 per cent chance of being born with it.
She said that the response from medics was negative: ‘The first words out of everyone’s mouths was “we’re really sorry” and nearly all recommended termination.
‘But we wouldn’t have changed a thing,’ Cathy said referring to the message of the campaign.
Both Holly and Phil praised the children for being so well-behaved as Phil added: ‘We knew when they said to come in it would be beautiful chaos.’
In the clip called 50 Mums 50 Kids 1 Extra Chromosome, a group of mothers and children signed along to music
The pairs use Makaton, a form of sign language, to sign Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years in the clip, which they hope will raise awareness about Down’s Syndrome
The group is called Wouldn’t Change a Thing, which comes from the feedback 97% of parents of children Down’s Syndrome give about them
The video has been watched by James Corden, the creator of Carpool Karaoke, who said it made him cry
Singer Christina Perri, whose song appears in the video, said she was ‘honoured’ that the track was chosen
Becky came up with the idea after she watched a Singing Hands carpool karaoke video signed with Makaton, a simplified form of British Sign Language.
She thought it would be ‘amazing’ to replicate the idea with other mothers and their young children who also have Down’s Syndrome.
The mothers all knew each other from Facebook group Designer Genes, where every member has a child with Down’s Syndrome.
The saying comes from what 97 per cent of parents with Down’s Syndrome children say about their children.
The families, who come from across the UK, recorded clips of themselves signing to the song, which became famous as part of the Twilight soundtrack.
The clips were then edited together by one of the fathers in the group and posted on YouTube, where it received over 1,500 views in 24 hours.
One of the mothers in the video said the aim is to make the video a success before awareness day.
The now viral video has been released to mark World Down’s Syndrome Day on March 21
The mums recorded their own clips and sent to them one of the children’s fathers, who edited them together and put it on YouTube, where it received over 1,500 views in 24 hours
The group is aiming for it to be the most watched clip about Down Syndrome on awareness day
Rebecca Carless said: ‘We believe this video really does have the potential to be the most viewed across the world on World Down Syndrome Day this year, so we urge everyone to share share share to help us make it a success!’
The video was spotted by James Corden, the actor turned TV presenter who created Carpool Karaoke.
He tweeted the video with the hashtag, saying: ‘This is the most beautiful Carpool Karaoke. It made me cry.’
It was also fully supported Christina Perri, whose music appears in the video, she tweeted: ‘THIS IS THE BEST!!!! i’m so honored they chose my song! my heart is so full!!!’
Corden’s followers were moved by the video, with many saying they were ‘crying like a baby’