’s producer Marsha Bemko lifted the lid on the “painful” choices she makes for the “best hour of television we can.” The long-running show sees people bring their treasured items, antiques and or collectors’ items, hoping for a life-changing appraisal from experts.
However, not every guest or appraiser makes the cut and appears on screens, as Marsha, who works on the American spin-off, explained: “Out of 150 or so appraisers we work with, I’ve made many friends. There are people I like immensely who I’ve worked with for more than 10 years. “We’re friendly, but I will cut my friends. I have to be very unemotional about it because my responsibility is to make the best television possible.”The expert did open up about her most memorable cut during her interview on , saying, “ I think the hardest cut happened last year.” The producer admitted: “It’s the only time I’ve ever cried on a set,” as she recalled: “A man came over with a print and he told me that his wife had had the print and they had gotten tickets.
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Marsha Bemko is the executive producer on Antiques Roadshow (Image: Getty)
“His wife couldn’t wait to come, but she died before the show. He was there with his adult daughter. And then he stops talking, and his eyes are welling up. And I’m looking at him ready to ask the questions, and I’m thinking, ‘oh, shoot, I’m going to cry’.
Marsha continued: “And I thought, ‘okay, don’t talk and you won’t cry’. Well, sure enough, I stood there silent. He stood there silent.
“We’re just looking at each other, and I didn’t bawl but I started to tear up. And meanwhile people are watching me, so he and I started to hug, and his adult daughter, we’re hugging, too.”
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Marsha Bemko has only cried once while working on Antiques Roadshow (Image: PBS )
“And people are running from their chairs, giving us Kleenex. It’s a scene. I’m telling you, it’s embarrassing for me,” she added.
Although the moment was incredibly moving for Marsha, she was forced to cut the appraisal from the show after “it didn’t get a great appraisal.”
She admitted it was the “most painful cut,” as she “connected” with the guest. However, she had to detach her emotions to make the decision.
Marsha added: “You can be sure the appraiser thought it was in the bag because of the relationship I had built with him. But I don’t let relationships call those decisions.”