Over the years, Antiques Roadshow viewers have witnessed some rather embarrassing scenes on the classic BBC show.
From guests being left underwhelmed over their disappointing valuations to some eye-watering figures leaving some ready to collapse on the floor, the antique-hunting show has truly been all over the place. Perhaps one of the most shocking moments came during the valuation of a ship’s washbasin.
He spent £32 on it back in the 1950s, so to have it valued at £200-£300 was clearly a blow for the guest. He immediately asked: “Is that all? My goodness, after all those years keeping anything myself for 50 years and I can only get £400. I’ve never heard the like.”
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Viewers at the time praised the guest’s “honest” reaction, and that he tried to boost the valuation by an extra hundred quid – just in case of any potential buyers watching.
Guest collapses
On the US version of Antiques Roadshow, aired on PBS, viewers were left concerned as one guest literally collapsed on the floor after hearing how much his vintage Rolex watch was worth. Appraised by expert Peter Planes, the Rolex Oyster Cosmograph dated back to 1971.
It had never been worn, and was worth anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000. The guest then literally fell onto the ground, his legs flopping into the air as Peter rushed around the table to see if he was okay.
Peter said: “Don’t fall. I’m not done yet. I said a watch like yours. Because of the condition of it – basically it’s a new old stock watch, no wear on it. And the fact that we have this original documentation here, maybe one of the few in the whole world that’s still never worn.
“Your watch at auction today – $500,000 to $700,000.” The guest couldn’t help but let out a swear word, replying: “You’re sh***ing me!” Peter said: “No I’m not, I’m very serious. In this condition I don’t think there’s another one in the world.”
On-set storm off
Though it was never aired on TV, one Antiques Roadshow guest was so upset by the valuation of their item they stormed off set away from the cameras. Expert Will Farmer confessed to the Express that a green glass bottle bought from an antiques shop wasn’t worth much.
The guest had originally bought the green glass for £1,000 – but it wasn’t worth anything close to that amount. Will said: “A gentleman pulled this green glass bottle out of his bag and I looked at him and said, ‘What would you like to know?’
“He said, ‘I want to check the date of it’ and I said, ‘Are you a collector, have you inherited it? where is it from?’ And he said he’d bought it from an antique shop so I knew I had to tread carefully.” He went on: “I had to go back and I remember this poor man’s face dropped. He just took it out of my hand, put it in the bag, and walked off.”
Will almost had an injury on his hands when another guest “collapsed” after hearing an item she paid just 18p for was worth £500. He said: “She did a comedy collapse on her feet and she went, ‘Oh my God, you’re joking.’”
Presenter stabbed
(Image: BBC)
Back in 2021, poor antiques expert Marc Allum was examining a piece dating back to the 19th century – which resulted in a stabbing. The item in question was a Swiss army knife, boasting plenty of sharp attachments.
The star sucked in a sharp breath to keep himself from swearing, instead exclaiming: “Sugar! I’ve just stabbed myself!” He then held up his sore hand and thumb to show the cut, prompting laughter from the guest.
Marc had a near miss, explaining of the item: “I say blades because of course, there is a massive variety of different tools on this. There’s everything from scissors, to gun cartridge remover, a bone saw… I mean the sky is the limit with this really.”
£6,000 damages
(Image: @will_farmer99/Instagram)
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In 2009, it came to light that in the past four years of filming Antiques Roadshow, 17 valuable items had been damaged. It resulted in a whopping £6,000 of damages paid by the BBC – who claimed breakages were usually caused by the guests and not show staff.
In today’s money, that’s more than £9,000. Hilary Kay told the Telegraph at the time: “There is no question that the Roadshow is littered with the sound of breaking porcelain. The way things get broken is when people don’t know how to handle things and on the whole, the experts don’t need to break things because the general public do so well without our help.
“People generally grab a plate, wrap it in a tea towel and then put it in a paper bag to bring along. At some point it will suffer from bag fatigue and things fall out. It is very sad when you are presented with something which is broken. It is something you have to deal with on a regular basis.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
