Bargain Hunt contestant 'lost for words' as they make BBC history for all the wrong reasons and auction goes 'badly, badly wrong'
A Bargain Hunt contestant was 'lost for words' as they made BBC history - and their auction went 'badly, badly wrong'.
The iconic BBC show sees two teams - the blues and the reds - compete to find three antique items, with expert advice, and flog them for the highest possible profit.
A resurfaced episode from 2022, hosted by Eric Knowles, sees experts Charles Hanson and Caroline Hawley head to the village of Eccleston, Lancashire.
The instalment stands out from all others in the show's 25-year history - for all the wrong reasons.
For the first time ever, the red team - made up of Geraldine and Washington - did not find a third item to go under the hammer, taking just two to auction.
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For the first time ever, the red team - made up of Geraldine and Washington (pictured) - did not find a third item to go under the hammer, taking just two to auction
The pair were themselves 'lost for words', explaining how they found themselves in that position, with a rare Doulton jug and two vintage tennis racquets
'Because there are so many things here - but it's just finding that item that meets the criteria', they said.
The voiceover further clarified that the team simply 'ran out of time' to select their third antique.
The criteria in question was that one of their items had to be worth at least £75.
The pair did not manage to achieve this, only securing a rare Doulton jug and two vintage tennis racquets - both worth under the threshold.
Host Eric told them: 'I've got to say, you have made Bargain Hunt history by virtue of you only managing to buy two items.'
The team's expert helper Charles Hanson was just as flabbergasted by the unusual turn of events.
Outside the antiques shop, he addressed the reds: 'I like to play to the wire but it went badly, badly wrong.
Outside the antiques shop, he addressed the reds: 'I like to play to the wire but it went badly, badly wrong'
'We failed on the challenge. We failed with our big spend. I'm sorry, team. It really happened.'
Sticking to the rules of the show, host Eric said: 'The ruling is that because you didn't do the £75 spend, you start with minus £75.'
But the reds were soon thrown a lifeline, offered the chance to make a bonus buy and purchase an art deco clock for £200 - a style 'always in demand', Eric assured them.
The team ended up selling the clock for a massive £380 at auction, leaving them with a profit of £130 - and leaving them not so impacted by their error after all.
Viewers at the time were scandalised by the outcome on X: 'They shouldn't have been allowed a bonus if they hadn't bought three items!'
Another said: 'Shouldn't have been allowed to compete with only a £75 forfeit.
'Others can just do that now, but like the red team, still win! Should have been disqualified in my opinion!'
But someone else took the misdemeanour less seriously: 'Brilliant! This has got be the best episode ever! What larks!'
The rules of Bargain Hunt were similarly put to the test on a celebrity episode featuring Bez and Rowetta Idah of Happy Mondays and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Candida Doyle.
The now iconic instalment from 2018 famously had to be reshot when a major rule infringement was discovered after filming had finished.
It transpired Bez's girlfriend bid on and won his team's auction items, securing an £8 profit for them - as well as the overall victory.
When the infraction came to light, Pulp's team - despite making a £95 loss - was awarded the win, with the end of the episode refilmed to reflect that.
The unusual moment saw the host of the episode read out the relevant Bargain Hunt rule, 'Tis completely forbidden for friends or family members to bid on a team's item', before exclaiming: 'I'm speechless!'
Bez, who gave the £8 back, said: 'It was a genuine error. My girlfriend thought she was helping out.'
Bargain Hunt's executive producer Paul Tucker said at the time: 'We have rules and regulations on Bargain Hunt and we have to make sure they abide by them.
'It was picked up by a runner and we verified there were clearly misdemeanours going on.
'It was a genuine rule that was broken and we had to reshoot the end.
'They are rock and rollers and they live on the edge as they did in the eighties.
'It's not a surprise but in the end, it was quite amusing.'
The resurfacing of these rule-breaking moments comes after Charles Hanson made an emotional return to the show after being cleared of abusing his wife.
The antiques expert, 46, came back to the long-running show last month, marking his first TV appearance since 2023.
Hanson, who has also starred in Antiques Roadshow, Flog It! and Antiques Road Trip, had been off air while facing serious allegations of assault and coercive control against his wife Rebecca. He had denied all the charges.
In February, a jury at Derby Crown Court found him not guilty on all counts.
It came after a three-week trial which laid bare the collapse of his marriage to the 42-year-old radiographer. The couple are now divorcing.
During the trial, Hanson was accused of a decade of abuse, including putting his pregnant wife in a headlock, pushing and scratching her, and controlling her behaviour.
He told jurors she was a 'fantasist' and claimed he had been a 'slave' to her demands.
After his acquittal, the TV star sobbed in the dock before punching the air in relief and embracing his parents, Phillip and Gillian, who sat in court throughout proceedings.
Speaking outside court in February, Hanson said: 'I'm delighted after a year and half that the truth has finally come out and can finally live my life and feel this burden has finally been lifted.
'It has been a tormentous time and all I want now is to readjust to what has been such an ordeal.
'These last 18 months have been extremely upsetting. I have missed my children and quite simply I can now get back to my life and I relish that. It has been very impactful.
'I am very lucky my parents have stood by me from start to finish – without my family it would have been a very, very testing time.'
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