show host has claimed that many of the most expensive items discovered on are actually planted by producers.
It’s not as bad as it sounds – bosses don’t know exactly how much an object is worth going in. But in some instances, million-pound finds have been researched by crew behind-the-scenes before the show starts filming, Richard claimed.
On his podcast The Rest is Entertainment, Richard said: “Do people get invited along? Occasionally that does happen. Some of the biggest ever finds on Antiques Roadshow have been ones that they sort of knew were going to happen.
“Gateshead Council had the six foot version of the Angel of the North, and when they were up there a guy obviously didn’t just turn up with this six foot Angel of the North and bring it along.
“There would have been chats with the production, saying ‘We’ve got this Angel of the North, it’s never been valued’. That was worth over £1million, which was more than they paid for the actual whole Angel of the North in the first place.
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Fiona Bruce was bowled over by the rare find (Image: BBC)
“There was an Army regiment who had a Faberge flower which they knew was very valuable. So they said to Antiques Roadshow, ‘Should we take it along, we don’t know how valuable it is’, and that was over £1million as well. You’re not just gonna turn up with it in a bag.
“If you’re in a particular area, the researchers will go up and have a look if there’s one big interesting story they can look at. The massive bulk of Antiques Roadshow is people seeing in the paper it’s in their area and bringing things along.”
The Van Dyck painting was worth £400,000 (Image: BBC)
But what was the most valuable find off the cuff? Richard had the answer, revealing: “The most expensive item I could find that was actually somebody who had just bought something in a shop and a researcher had looked at it and gone, ‘I think this is quite interesting’ and it had gone up to the producer and the expert, was someone who for £400 had bought a painting in a thrift shop, and it was a £400,000 Van Dyck.
“That was somebody literally turning up with a painting under their arm and suddenly they’re £400,000 richer.”