Bargain Hunt's very own Eric Knowles became a staple of the show following a serendipitous call from a BBC commissioning editor, who happened to be an old acquaintance.They shared roots in the North West and she was convinced that his straight-talking manner would make him a perfect match for the show.
Eric reminisced: "Straight talking was the order of the day and she was convinced I would be perfect for BH." His time on the show has been peppered with unforgettable moments, including a hilarious episode where his co-star Charlie Ross almost lost his cool with some particularly laid-back contestants.
But before becoming a television favourite, Eric's journey into the world of antiques was quite unplanned. Reflecting on how he stumbled into the antiques scene, Eric believes it was destiny at play.
He said: "It was circumstance that saw my interest in history and architecture lead me out of redundancy with an engineering company up in my native Lancashire to a job in London as a porter at Bonham's auction house." Eric's tenure at Bonham's spanned over three decades, where he relished the ever-changing nature of auction house work, saying: "I was to stay with the company for the next 32 years.