Charlie Ross is a Bargain Hunt presenter (Image: BBC)
Bargain Hunt is back on BBC One with expert Charlie Ross hosting proceedings. The antiques fanatic and auctioneer has been happily married to his wife Sally for decades.
Although the pair love their Bicester home, they adore travelling and Charlie opened up about one of his favourite holiday destinations – Sri Lanka. During a two-week holiday there they watched cricket, explored Buddhism and enjoyed plenty of curry.
He is a father to two grown-up children – Charlotte and Oliver. Both have gone on to make Charlie a grandfather as they have their own children – Finn, Max, Ana and Zac.
The star’s local newspaper Bicester Advertiser revealed that besides his passion for antiques, he enjoys amateur dramatics. He played Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady at the Oxford Playhouse and once in Bicester.
His wife inspired his love of theatre as she was a member of the Bicester Choral and Operatic Society.
Charlie Ross is an antiques expert (Image: BBC)
He told the Bicester Advertiser: “The first musical I saw locally was Show Boat with Mike Cowdy, who lives in Caulcott. I thought I could have a go at that.”
The expert released an autobiography covering his life in showbusiness, titled Sold!, and The Bucks Herald explained it was his wife who encouraged him to finish the book.
He said: “Sally, my wife, kept badgering me to finish it which I did, eventually. But, not being experienced in the written word, I realised that I needed someone to polish it in order to turn it into acceptable English.
“My brother, Stewart, being a much published author, did just that.
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Charlie Ross is a father and grandfather (Image: BBC)
“And so here it is, the story of my rather unusual journey from almost being a dentist – exam failure ended that dream – to travelling the world with my gavel, selling an interesting mix from the exotic to the more mundane.”
Charlie has not always settled in the UK, as he did plenty of work across the pond in the USA, conducting the Pebble Beach Vintage Car Auction in California.
He also hosted the Scottsdale Auction in Arizona and held the record for the highest price ever achieved for a car sold by auction in the US.
The car, a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Prototype, sold for more than $16 million in 2011.
Bargain Hunt airs on One on weekdays at 12.15pm