As Bargain Hunt celebrates its 25th birthday this week, I thought I'd reflect on my own enjoyable but disastrous appearance (mainly thanks to that chair!) on the BBC daytime favourite many years ago.
I'd been a huge fan ever since the early days of the series when it was presented by David Dickinson and I told the BBC press office how much I wanted to cover it. Never mind covering it, why don't you come on it they suggested! Great idea I thought and so it ended up being in a special TV magazine episode with myself and a colleague from "TV Times", where I then worked, against two foes from "What's on TV".
I recall having this weird idea that I'd be good at it and wouldn't fall into the obvious traps. I was wrong! Our Bargain Hunt episode was filmed over two days, split by a couple of weeks, the first at the antiques fair and the second at the auction house.
Arindgly Antiques Fair
So, we were told to meet at Ardingly Antiques Fair in Sussex where we were introduced to then-host Tim Wonnacott and our expert. We were given our cash and told to head off to look around the fair. I recall the fair being vast and we kept having to do spots of filming which meant there wasn't actually that long to look at the antiques. Also, it quickly dawned I knew nothing about antiques.
My basic tactic was to go for fairly low-value items so that we couldn't lose too much on each object. This is fine when you're watching at home but everything turned out to be hugely expensive even if it did look "cheap!". Also, I imagined the stallholders might be kind because I was on Bargain Hunt, this did not seem to be the case! Instead, I think they thought (rightly) here are some mugs who have to spend this cash they've been given and they're clueless.
The horrendous chair
Our expert pointed us in the direction of an "unusual" chair from the 19th century and advised that it had a rustic charm. My teammate made the valid point it appeared to have a hole in it. Rewatching the footage it did have a hole in it. A rather large hole!
Also, it had a £95 price tag, although we did haggle it down to £75. Presumably, the seller couldn't believe their luck flogging it for that price!
Why didn't we go with our gut instinct?! We didn't like it but got persuaded it could sell. Guess what it didn't! It was clear we were doomed when presenter Tim said: "Will the damaged seat cause the price to hit the floor?". While the auctioneer sniffed there was "such trouble with the condition" which is a posh way of saying it's got a hole in it. He added for good measure: "I think it's a large loss".
Perhaps the expert was ultimately right and it did have charm but unfortunately, the buyers at the auction weren't convinced.
The Auction
So as you've guessed the auction didn't go quite to plan!
The Chair — so bidding started at a fiver. Not promising. Eventually, it went for £14 securing a £61 loss! "That's not good," Tim told us, yep thanks Tim, we got that. We did buy two other items, perhaps they could rescue us!
First, a Victorian silver picture frame, described by the presenter as a "pretty piece," which we bought for £45. That went for £30. Loss of £15. Finally, a "stylish" Art Deco candelabrum we’d bought for £40 went for £26. Another loss, this time £14. A whopping £90 loss! Needless to say, we lost to the extremely smug blue team. But it was still a great experience.
Tips for Bargain Hunt
- Go with your gut instinct
- Don't get rushed!
- Have a plan and stick to it
- Enjoy it, it's a lot of fun!
How to apply to be on Bargain Hunt
The great news is that of course Bargain Hunt is still going strong and you can go on the show and aim to do better than I did, which shouldn't be hard. Here's the application form and note you have to be 18 or over! Good luck.
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