Antiques Road Trip star Irita Marriott launched her very own auction house last year after making her debut on the BBC show in 2021.
She’s now opened up about her exciting venture ahead of the solo series she’ll be starring in based on the auction house and reflected on the close relationship she’s formed with a co-star who is “like a brother” to her.
Discussing her new gig, Marriott delved into her friendship with fellow antiques enthusiast and BBC colleague, Mark Hill.
“Oh my God, he’s an absolute sweetheart,” she commented.
She continued in an interview with Hello!: “That trip with him, I gained so much positivity from that and an incredible friend for life. He’s like my big little brother.”
Thankfully for her fans, Marriott has no plans to quit Bargain Hunt or Antiques Road Trip despite launching a new show away from the Beeb.
Irita Marriott joined Antiques Road Trip in 2021
BBC
She explained: “I would never want to stop that, because I really, truly enjoy that. I hope I can carry on for next 20, 30 years!”
Reflecting on the inspiration for starting the business, she gave a heartwarming reason for deciding to take the plunge.
“Being a dealer, I am my business. If I have a day off, I don’t earn and I have nothing I can pass on to my boys when the time comes,” she told the publication.
She went on to add she would welcome her two sons with “open arms” if they decided they wanted to work with her one day.
Irita Marriot talked about her friendship with Mark Hill
BBC
“But at the same time, there’s absolutely zero pressure,” she made clear. “But by having an auction house it gives them the option.”
The TV personality has more than a decade of experience in the antiques industry but wasn’t immune to the challenges that come with opening an auction business.
“You have the pressure of brand new business and, of course, I’m a working mum on top of that, and then all of a sudden you add a TV show that you spend five days a week filming into the mix,” she explained.
She later added she couldn’t do the job “if it wasn’t for the support of my family”.
Describing them as “absolutely incredible,” she later remarked: “I have to pinch myself every single day because I consider myself so lucky to be able to do a job that I love and have all of this going on around me when I think of where I came from.”
Marriott’s new show, The Derbyshire Auction House, kicked off on Discovery+ and Really earlier this month.
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Antiques expert Irita Marriot will be starring in a new solo series
BBC
Meanwhile, Marriott’s Bargain Hunt colleague John Cameron recently delighted fans after confirming he would be making a return after suffering a heart attack.
The antiques expert suffered the medical emergency just minutes before he was due to film for the BBC antiques show and was treated in hospital, and thankfully it seems he’d made a promising recovery.