IRITA Marriott may be best known for her time on Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip, but the antiques expert is now becoming recognised for a show of her own.
She has had plenty of experiences turning one man’s trash into another man’s treasure as she visited antique fairs across the country while building her career.
Now she has been welcomed to work her magic in the homes of people from her local area as she filmed The Derbyshire Auction House.
Partially a spin-off of The Yorkshire Auction House, the reality series follows Irita as she unearths cherished items that have sometimes been stored by families for decades.
The businesswoman then helps guests fetch the best possible price for their goods at auction.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun, Irita opened up about some of the most surprising finds she came across while shooting the first season of The Derbyshire Auction House.
After discovering a kitchen utensil a family had tucked away in storage, she realised it could be worth thousands of pounds.
She gushed: “My favourite thing when it comes to the items themselves is finding something that people didn’t know what they were – or didn’t know what those items could be worth – and telling them the stories of the items.
“There was a spoon that I found in someone’s house that has been in understairs cupboard for years and years after being inherited by the family.
“They never thought it was worth anything. It just happened to be on the side because they had moved a few things around.
“I was rather excited when I found it. And it went under the hammer.
“It had interest from museums in Australia and it ended up being sold to a private collector in California for £3,300.”
In another episode, Irita came across a painting that turned out to be by a world-famous artist.
“It was a very unassuming old picture and it was all down to a gut feeling,” she shared.
“We discovered a very, very nice painting from the late 1700s that they never knew existed.”
All the items Irita finds actually go up for sale in her own auction house, which she bought in 2023.
She spoke about what it was like transitioning into being an auctioneer – and not just any auctioneer, but one of the only women to run a salesroom in Britain.
Irita had to work hard since moving to the UK from Latvia at the age of 20 to succeed in her dream career, and part of her still can’t believe it has finally happened.
“It’s just crazy,” the TV personality exclaimed.
“Sometimes it feels like a dream. I need to pinch myself.
“I know I’ve been on Bargain Hunt, Celebrity Road Trip, and The Greatest Auction. But I just can’t…that I’m on telly? No!
“Trust me when I say, where I come from, where I was born, it is beyond what I ever imagined.”
The Derbyshire Auction House airs on Mondays at 9pm on the Really channel
