Old People's Home For 4 Year Olds viewers were left in tears on Monday night when Scarlett Pollard revealed her mum had died six months before the experiment.
The four-year-old broke viewers' hearts when telling her new friend, 86-year-old Beryl Poulson, about her mum's passing.
During the first day of the Channel 4 experiment, Scarlett struck up a friendship with Beryl after they were paired up at Lark Hill Village in Nottingham.
The pair were doing an icebreaker activity when nursery teacher Libby asked Beryl to help her little pal write a party invitation to her 'Mummy and Daddy'.
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However, Scarlett quickly explained: "No, my Mum's died. So, Gran-Gran and Daddy."
One emotional viewer tweeted: "Scarlett saying her mum couldn't come because she had died is heartbreaking, f*ck sake."
"When Scarlett politely announced that her mummy had died so she couldn't invite her to the party. My heart [crying emoji]," another added.
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A third tweeted: "Old People's Home For 4 Year Olds has got in a complete mess."
Scarlett's dad, Tim, later explained that her mum, Sally, had died six months before the programme had begun after she was diagnosed with breast cancer that spread to her brain.
"She will always be the little girl whose mum died when she was three. But I don't want her to grow up to be the woman whose life was blighted by her mum dying when she was three," he explained.
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After hearing the heartbreaking news, Beryl said: "Scarlett talks quite openly about her mum, it must have been shattering. You can't imagine it really."
The programme came around after studies showed that mixing children with older people can have huge benefits for them both.
Putting this to the test, Channel 4 relocated the children to a temporary nursery at Lark Hill Village, which homes more than 400 pensioners.
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