BBC Fake or Fortune fans all say same thing as they call out heartbreaking loss

Fake or Fortune fans were left up in arms after learning how much one husband paid for a gorgeous landscape painting, only for it to turn out to be a fake. During Monday's visit (July 28) to the BBC studios, hosts Fiona Bruce and portrait expert Philip Mould teamed up to investigate the mysteries behind two paintings thought to have been made by infamous French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

For the special episode, the Question Time host took a trip to Cambridge to visit sisters Suki and Rebecca and inspect their landscape of the Midi region of France. They revealed that the painting was a birthday present that their father gave to their mother on her 50th birthday.

They told Fiona: "It was a birthday presenter that our father gave to our mother for her 50th birthday. He said every lady should have a Renoir for their 50th. [Our mum was] Very taken aback, she was delighted and chuckled with laughter and cried at the same time."

The doting sisters revealed that their father purchased the breathtaking piece back in 1989 for £58,000. Suki told the presenter that after their dad passed away in 2008, their mother moved into a care home.

She revealed that if the painting is a verified Renoir, they will use the money to help pay for their mother's continued care in her care home.

But things took a disappointing turn throughout the episode after they found certain pigmants had been used when making the painting that wouldn't have been used when the infamous French artist was around.

After conducting several tests with x-rays and specialists, Fiona confirmed that the painting was in fact a fake now worth around £1,500 at auction.

It didn't take long before fans flooded to X - formerly known as Twitter - to share their heartache for the family who had been swindled out of thousands of pounds for the believable fake.

One user fumed: "£58k was originally paid! You'd be going after recompense #FakeorFortune" as another agreed: "£58k on a worthless, not very attractive painting. SOB. Worst 50th ever #FakeorFortune."

A third echoed: "That #FakeorFortune of that Renoir landscape is particularly disappointing as it was BOUGHT as a Renoir from presumably what their Dad thought was a reputable dealer - completely different from the ususal 'car boot sale' type finds..... [gimacing emoji]."