Inside Antiques Roadshow expert's 'fleapit' house 'unfit for human habitation'
Antiques Roadshow star Andy McConnell has revealed his plans to renovate his 'fleapit' house, which was deemed unfit for human habitation.
The 71-year-old antiques expert said: "I bought it four years ago for £230,000 and it's definitely gone up in value. It was a total fleapit when I bought it and unmortgageable... In fact, the particulars said it was unfit for human habitation so I thought it was just right for me and got £95,000 off the asking price."
Andy continued: "All I've done so far is install a new bathroom and new boiler but I'm planning a complete renovation." The TV star started buying and selling antiques at the age of 14, even paying his own school fees. His expertise landed him a spot on the iconic Antiques Roadshow back in 2005. Besides appearing on the BBC show, he also teaches about glass and writes for various publications.
Andy McConnell has revealed his home was a 'fleapit'Fans used to visit Andy's antique and vintage glass shop, Glass Etc, in Rye, East Sussex. But, during the coronavirus lockdown, he had to close it down. Before becoming an antiques expert, Andy was a rock and roll journalist in Hollywood. He interviewed many famous bands in the 70s and even made promo videos for rock stars in the 80s. After living the high life for a while, Andy decided to switch to a career in antiques.
Earlier this year, Andy revealed to fans that he suffers from emphysema, an illness that's part of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The condition damages lung tissue over time, particularly the tiny air sacs known as alveoli. As per NHS guidelines, it can lead to chest infections, consistent coughing and breathing difficulties.
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Andy has admitted he regrets heavy smoking in the past, disclosing: "As a smoker of 30 cigarettes a day for 50 years, I think cigarettes should cost £500 a packet," during an interview with This is Money. He told the publication that he has "smoked 490,000 fags in my lifetime and I regret it now."
Andy is doing up his home and spends six months in South East Asia so he doesn't have to pay heating bills (Instagram/ @decanterman)
Andy snapped up the home because he got a huge chunk off the asking price (Instagram/ @decanterman)The Antique expert goes to South East Asia for six months of the year as "a money-saving exercise because I don't have to pay to heat my house in winter". During one episode of Antiques Roadshow, Andy was left stunned after discovering what he had believed was a 150-year-old bottle of port was actually full of urine, rusty nails and human hair.
He tasted the vile contents back in 2016 after visitor John brought in a mysterious bottle he had found buried in the threshold of his house. Saying that it was very rare to have a bottle with its contents still, Andy said it dated it from the 1800s and proceeded to inject a syringe into the cork to extract some of the liquid.
"It's very brown," Andy remarked, unimpressed. Despite this, he decided to give it a taste in front of the stunned crowd. After making a face, he suggested: "I think it's port-port or red wine... or it's full of rusty old nails and that's rust!" Unluckily for him, Andy discovered years later that the "rusty" taste was something vile.
Fiona Bruce revealed in 2018: "Inside were these brass pins, all of these dating from the late 1840s and the liquid - urine, a tiny pit of alcohol and one human hair. And a mysterious little creature called an ostracod, which is like a little cockle. So what this was was not a bottle of port or wine but a witches bottle." Despite being shocked by what he drank, Andy quipped: "It was too much of a good opportunity to miss!"
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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