Bargain Hunt host forced to apologise as furious viewers complain
A Bargain Hunt presenter was compelled to apologise to viewers following complaints from the audience at home. The episode shown last year featured two new teams: retired teachers Ben and Mandy, who made up the Red Team, and Janet, a retiree, and her son Xander, an IT engineer, who were on the Blue Team.
Each team was given £300 to shop at a venue in Brackley, Northamptonshire, with the team making the biggest profit or smallest loss declared the winner. As the auction began, regular Bargain Hunt presenter Thomas Forrester had to issue an apology.
Ben and Mandy were first, breaking even on an oil lantern they bought for £35. Their Clarice Cliff pot, purchased for £85, made a £20 loss, and a Swedish glass vase they spent £50 on sold for just £40.
With a total loss of £30, they were offered Thomas' "Bonus Buy" and asked if they wanted to gamble on it. Thomas presented a sack barrow, a trolley from the early 20th century, which he said "could make them a fortune".
When asked if they wanted to put it up for auction, Ben said: "Why not? " While Thomas estimated the piece could fetch up to £180, it actually sold for just £45, resulting in an £85 loss and a total loss of £115 for the couple. Addressing Ben and Mandy, Thomas said: "Oh no, no. We can't have that. That's awful, I'm sorry", reports the Liverpool Echo.
Viewers were left fuming on Twitter, commenting on the shock pricing, with one saying: "No way I'd be paying £130 for that", while another chimed in with: "Sack trolley, no chance".
A third joined in, exclaiming: "Sack barrow for £130? Lunacy" and someone else guessed: "I would have said £20 for that Thomas".
Despite all this, the Blue Team emerged as winners with a slight profit of £2.
The show is not known for making millionaires of its players - but even host Charlie Ross seemed surprised by the scale of the loss racked up by one team this week.
Jean and Emma, a mother and daughter-in-law pairing, racked up a massive bill having blown £200 on a Buddha statue that barely fetched a quarter of what they paid for it.
That led them to a staggering £115 overall loss that even Charlie struggled to put a positive spin on, saying: "If you say it quickly... well, it still sounds just as bad."
But it was another of the blue team's purchases that sparked controversy, with the team told to pick up something with a chain to be sold at auction on the BBC show.
However, viewers weren't convinced that the £14 baby rattle they'd picked up fitted that description, and even Charlie described it as "the shortest chain in the world".
He told auctioneer James Lewis: "It was their challenge - buy something with a chain. If you looks carefully there's the shortest chain in the world. A link."
One viewer posted: "Wheres the chain on that rattle????" while another agreed: "That's not a chain."
Bargain Hunt airs weekdays at 12.15pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
