Antiques Road Trip and Bargain Hunt star Irita Marriott has spoken about how the BBC show changed her life, as her own saleroom series The Derbyshire Auction House returns to screens this week.
The Quest series follows Irita and her valuation team as they search clients' lofts, garages and spare rooms for hidden treasures, clearing unwanted items and selling them for a profit. Irita, who previously worked as a giftware buyer at a garden centre, started her TV career on Antiques Road Trip.
'Life-changing' TV debut
Speaking exclusively to The Daily Express, she said: "Antiques Road Trip was the life-changing part. When I first started in antiques, I knew nothing and I got obsessed with watching Antiques Road Trip. All I wanted was, one day, to be good enough as these people and have the knowledge they have. It wasn't about being on TV or being famous or any of that, it was just trying to prove to myself I could. When I got the part, to be honest, I still can't believe I was on it, and that was the one part that will forever blow my mind."
One of her favourite parts of the job is educating people and sharing tips to help them achieve their dreams, something she can do through The Derbyshire Auction House, which airs tonight on Quest and Discovery+.
Advice for sellers
She added: "I have to say, I didn't know the industry existed up until 14 years ago, I'd never handled an antique or been aware of auctions existing. But the more I do it, the more I fall in love with it."
She also advised against selling to leaflet firms: "The biggest thing to me, on the other side of helping people, you know people get those leaflets through their door saying 'We buy gold, we buy jewellery'? You know, that is not your best option. Putting things in auction and putting them on a worldwide market is the best thing you can do because antiques are worth more than what metal is, they all have history they all have stories to tell and I, for one, have seen good quality items just be melted."
She added: "As part of my everyday role in the auction house, I love when people say 'I want these things to go to a good, new home and not in the pot'."
Emotional stories
Reflecting on her career, she said: "If you had told me 15 years ago this is what I was going to do, I wouldn't have believed you. Genuinely, I didn't know what an antique was. Bonkers is what it is."
This season's items include a Welsh oil painting that sold for £4,000, a Chinese vase and various pieces of jewellery. Irita said: "This series has been fantastic, I always say people watch the show for the antiques, but they watch the show because of the people. The stories sometimes carry the antiques further than they can carry themselves and that's so nice to hear from people who watch it. When it comes to antiques, we are in for a treat."
"One of the reasons I love antiques is that five people look at the same thing and every single person feels something completely different and you never know how an antique will trigger you." The Derbyshire Auction House airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Quest and streams on Discovery+.
