Bargain Hunt star's life 'changed forever' after show as they spill secrets
A Bargain Hunt contestant says appearing on the BBC show changed her life forever - and led her to quitting her job.
Emma Tighe appeared on the hit daytime show in 2019 as a punter alongside her husband Stuart. The pair went on to become one of the most successful teams in Bargain Hunt history when almost all of the items they bought re-sold at auction for more than they bought them and they pocketed £133 profits.
Emma says the antiques expert was unconvinced by the quirky items she and Stuart found at a market - only to have her own instincts proved correct when the items sold for profit. Her dalliance on the BBC show encouraged her to quit her job at the Black Country Living Museum and set up an antiques company of her own.
Opening up to The Sun, Emma explained: “We were featured in the greatest moments of Bargain Hunt so it has been on TV many times now. I think it’s because we were the quickest team they ever had, bought really good items, and left our expert with just £1 to spend on his item.”
Opening up about her career change, Emma revealed how her company, Vintage Dolly, has been supplying antique items and vintage clothing to celebrity photoshoots and for sets and costumes in TV shows. Crediting her appearance on the daytime show for her new success, Emma said: “I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do this before Bargain Hunt, it made me realise how much I love doing this and was good at it, too. It was a real wake-up call.
EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness“It’s wonderful, we have a few celebrity customers on our books - one of them is from the BBC show The Bidding Room.
“Things from the shop appear in magazines and on TV a lot too. In a show with Richard Hammond, they were interviewing people on these big comfy chairs - they bought them from us. And literally last week, a guy from ITV bought loads of vintage clothing for their new show, it will be exciting to see it onscreen.”
As well as sharing news about her career change, Emma also shared behind-the-scenes insights from her time on the show. She explained that multiple episodes are filmed at a time. This meant she and her husband were called to an antique market at 9am for the beginning of the day's filming.
But since they ended up being the final team to be filmed searching for items, it wasn't until 1:30pm that they were finally allowed out to look for bargains to buy. Emma explained that contestants have just one hour to find and buy the items they then plan to try to upsell at auction.
However, she and Stuart found their bargains in a record thirteen minutes - making them the fastest team yet to find items on the show. The items they discovered were a Danish chair bought for £170 that sold for £220, a cast iron cross bought for £80 that sold for £120, and a vintage stuffed toy dog that they bought for £29 which sold at a small loss of £25.
Bargain hunt experts Natasha Raskin Sharp and Charles Hanson recently advised TV fans to check their lofts for hidden gems - after they saw an old teapot a man found in his attic sell for almost £400,000.
Charles explained: “When it hit a quarter of a million [...] I felt relief because it was my first big milestone," he added. And Natasha then urged viewers to check for such antiques in their own homes suggesting: "What a result! The lesson here is to check your loft for hidden ewers."