Antiques Road Trip star Izzie Balmer has opened up about how her former co-star Charles Hanson helped her land her big break into TV, and it sounds like a baptism of fire! The star recently revealed that Charles asked her to cover for him after he was unavailable for an episode of Bargain Hunt.
She explained: “Charles Hanson’s misfortune turned into a stroke of luck for me. I suddenly got a phone call from Charles – five minutes before the auction was due to start at 10am.
“He was en route to Birmingham and wanted to offer me a few pearls of wisdom to help things go well. It was his way of telling me I was going on TV. There were no other auctioneers available – it had to be me. I had to auction the Bargain Hunt lots in front of the cameras.”
Speaking about her first time in front of the camera, she continued: “I was thrilled – but a bit nervous. It’s the second series of Street Auction, which got around two million viewers for the first series in 2016… We started filming in April and on the first day I was awful. I didn’t know what I was doing and it was so cold a runner kept having to give me his coat.”
© PA Images via Getty ImagesIzzie is now a hugely popular presenter of both Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip, while Charles is currently on hiatus from both shows after being charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assault and engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour back in 2023.
He was found not guilty of all charges in February 2025, and has spoken about his very difficult year. He explained: “[The last 18 months] have been extremely upsetting. I’ve missed my children and quite simply I can now get back to my life, and I relish that.
“I’ve experienced a long time of upset and I always believed in justice, and here we are today, the sun is shining and I can start my life again. [The trial has] been very impactful and I’m very lucky that my parents have stood by me from start to finish. Without my family it would have been a very testing time.”
© @mrcharleshansonHe has since confirmed that he will be reuniting with some of his co-stars on tour, posting: “Thrilled to announce that I will be re-joining @Antiquesontour with my pals for all the remaining dates of the 2025 tour – starting in Neath & Bristol.” However, there is no news about his planned return date to the popular antique shows – yet.
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