Flog It star Elizabeth Talbot was left red-faced after making a huge blunder at an auction that “shouldn’t have happened”.
The expert, who is also a regular on , confessed to Antique Collecting magazine that though she thought she had a handle on intentional bids, things quickly went wrong in a room full of people at a vintage textiles auction in Diss.
She confessed: “The room was full, bidding lively and the mood buoyant. Just in front of the rostrum sat two ladies who were having great fun securing various lots of fashion finery.
“Men’s wardrobe classics were included in the sale, so it was no surprise to me that, on offering a smart piece of male couture, a gentleman should enter at some speed with detectable determination and gesticulating as he came.”
Elizabeth assumed the man was trying to bid on a lovely new suit – which he won. Once the gavel fell, Elizabeth quizzed him on his buyer’s number and she retrieved them from the women in front.
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Elizabeth Talbot made a huge auction blunder (Image: BBC)
But after the auction, Elizabeth was mortified to find out the man – who was the husband of one of the women – hadn’t intended to place a bid after all. Instead, he had simply been waving at his wife and daughter upon entering the room.
Elizabeth asked why he didn’t try to correct her, quipping: “Why, then, didn’t you correct me but rather carry on bidding until the lot was knocked down to you?” – and the man’s response was: “I was too embarrassed to say anything!”
She admitted: “It was, though, apparently the best money they ever spent at auction, a good price for the much-told anecdote. I don’t know if he ever wore the suit.”
Elizabeth is one of the auctioneers on BBC’s Flog It (Image: BBC)
Along with her auctioneering work, Elizabeth is the President of the Lowestoft Archaeology and Local History Society, along with being an honorary member of the Hornby Railway Collectors Association.
She became a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in the 90s, after training with Messrs. Henry Spencer and Sons of Retford in the early days of her career.