Charlie Ross refuses to appear on Antiques Roadshow after BBC ‘mistake’. (Image: BBC)
Antiques expert Charlie Ross is a popular face on BBC shows like , Flog It! and , but insists he will never join the team for a very specific reason.
With Charlie’s vast expertise and likeable personality, he was approached to appear on Antiques Roadshow a few years ago and jumped at the chance, given the show’s high viewing figures and lasting popularity.
Charlie, 74, quickly began to realise that this was a “mistake” and rebuffed the offer soon after filming began.
He recalled: “The and I made a mistake. Theirs was to ask me if I would like to join the Antiques Roadshow team, mine was to say yes.
“Both were understandable. On Flog It!, after learning on the hoof from countless auctions over many years, I showed some knowledge of the value of things. I also came across as a genial sort of chap whom audiences appeared to like.
:
Charlie Ross is known for his appearances on Bargain Hunt and Flog It! (Image: Getty)
“For my part, the chance to appear on one of the ’s flagship evening programmes was too exciting to turn down.”
He went to meet the team for dinner the evening before filming, but “the vibes were not good from the start”.
Charlie continued in his autobiography, Sold!: “Several of them, notably Hugo Morley-Fletcher, Tim Wonnacott and Henry Sandham, were friendly and welcoming. I found the others harder work.”
He said things went from bad to worse when it was valuation day and a woman brought in a Spanish Armada strongbox.
Don’t miss… [WATCH] [WATCH]
Charlie Ross was told off by Antiques Roadshow bosses. (Image: Getty)
He recalled saying: “Madam, how lovely to meet you. May I say what a magnificent chest you have.”
The cheeky quip prompted a laugh from the woman and the camera crew. However, the director was less amused and gave Charlie a telling off, warning him that Antiques Roadshow is a “serious programme”.
The scene was then reshot without his joke.
Charlie adds: “After a few undistinguished appearances, I suggested that perhaps Antiques Roadshow wasn’t really for me. They agreed, and I moved on to less serious programmes better suited to my wish to entertain as well as inform.”
Away from his TV work, Charlie is known for making waves in the auctioning world and breaking records.
He began his career working at a local estate agent in the early 1960s. He then found himself auctioning chickens and turkeys before progressing to antique furniture.
He established his own auction house and built a reputation for auctioning vintage cars. He has directed prestigious events such as the Pebble Beach Vintage Car Auction in California and Gooding and Company’s Scottsdale Auction in Arizona.
Perhaps his most famous achievement came when he presided over the sale of the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype, which sold for over $16 million in 2011.
He has been married to his wife, Sally, for more than 40 years and they share two children and four grandchildren.