A recent episode of Bargain Hunt filmed here in the South West of England has been dubbed an 'absolute scandal' by viewers, after a disqualified item made a profit at auction. The BBC One show saw the famous red and blue teams take to Exeter's Westpoint Arena in the March 4 instalment.
As part of the show, host Natasha Raskin Sharp issued both teams with the task of finding an item which matched a certain criteria, Devon Live reports. Mother and son duo Ann and James - on the blue team - had to find a maritime object, while friends Lisa and Helen on the red team were challenged with finding an agricultural object to take to auction.
The blues managed to buy a menu holder from a shipping liner for £70, while the reds opted for what they believed to be a mole spade, which cost them £18. It was thought by the team and their expert Philip Serrell that the object they had bought was a spade used for digging out moles, fitting with their agricultural task.
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However, when they arrived at the auction house, they were shocked to discover that David Sumner of Ottery Auction Rooms in Ottery St Mary in fact believed the object to be a bread peel from the 19th Century, used to get crumbs out of the oven. He had come to this decision, he said, after speaking with other experts who also believed it not to be a mole spade, and therefore not an agricultural item.
Natasha added that the Bargain Hunt team had also inspected it and they also believed it was not a mole spade. This led to Natasha saying she had decided to disqualify the item.
When they arrived at the auction house, the reds were informed of the bad news, although antiques expert Philip said he thought the call was "wrong". Then the item went up for auction and much to the team's devastation, sold for £50, which would have given them a £32 profit.
The decision to disqualify the red team's item proved to be controversial. After it made a decent profit, Ariande Griffin tweeted: "Absolute scandal.
"The way they made them stand there and watch it make a profit. A villain origin story unfolds."
Meanwhile, Cornish Girl weighed in on Twitter. She said: "Disqualified spade makes a profit."
Once the rest of their items were sold, Lisa and Helen were making a £55 loss. However, despite having a full quota of items go to sale, the blues still ended up being defeated, ending on a loss of £63.
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