Paul Laidlaw from Antiques Road Trip holds the record for making the most money from an antique that he purchased for £60 and auctioned for £20 000.
All good things must come to an end, and fans of the antique and artefacts reality-format show, Antiques Road Trip, had to say goodbye to the show following confirmation that it has been cancelled.
With 24 seasons under its belt, the show was premised, “Two antiques experts compete against each other over five days buying antiques and selling them in five auctions,” according to IMDb.
The competitive but light-hearted show has fans looking back to reminisce on who holds the record for the most money made from an artefact in the show’s 24-season history. To date, the record, made in 2018, is still held by Paul Laidlaw.
Why is Antiques Road Trip ending?
Considering the popularity of antique and artefact reality-format shows, fans were surprised when it was confirmed in March 2022 that Antiques Road Trip was cancelled.
The show premiered 2010 and has 24 seasons from its 13-year run on BBC One. No word was shared regarding the reasoning for the show’s cancellation. Though it was revealed that the show was going to be replaced with quiz show, Bridge of Lies.
The quiz show is hosted by Ross Kemp and received a lot of backlash stemming from the fact that BBC One cancelled Antiques Road Trip, only to replace it with another quiz show.
Who has made the most money on Antiques Road Trip?
Antiques Road Trip’s Paul Laidlaw is the expert who made the most money from a single restored artefact.
Laidlaw made £20 000 at an auction from a £60 artefact that he found. The artefact was one of August Bertsch’s exceptionally rare Chambre Automatique cameras.
When Laidlaw first found it, he believed it was some kind of subminiature camera, only later discovering that it was a camera with a microscope, which made it extremely rare.
He found the artefact in Margate, Kent, where he had travelled with his “rival,” Kate Bliss, for the episode. The auction took place in Bury St Edmunds, where five phone bidders and online bidders all pushed the auction price to the record-breaking £20 000.
Overall, Laidlaw made a profit of £19 940, and all of the proceeds went to the non-profit organisation charity, Children in Need.
Paul Laidlaw leaves Antiques Road Trip
During the Paul Laidlaw series of Antiques Road Trip, he not only managed to break records as the expert to have made the most money from a single auction, but he also became beloved by fans of the show.
Therefore, fans were surprised when following that season in 2018, it was confirmed that Laidlaw would not return to the series. The reason shared was that it was because of the high profits he made during the season.
Additionally, his departure coincided with fellow expert and rival in the 2018 season, Margie Cooper, who also left the show.
What is the second highest amount of money made on Antiques Road Trip?
The second highest amount of money made on Antiques Road Trip is by Anita Manning in the season that aired in 2016.
Manning found a Tibetan bronze deity which she purchased for the price of £50. However, she managed to sell the deity for a total of £3 800 at an auction.
The difference between the highest and second highest value of antique or artefact in the show is considerable as there is a £16 200 difference.
However, that does not matter in the end, considering all the proceeds go to a dedicated charity every season.
Who was the narrator of Antiques Road Trip?
While the show hinged on the personalities of the experts that embarked on the light-hearted competition to turn the biggest profit from the artefacts or antiques found, it was the narrator of the show that remained consistent.
For all 24 seasons of the show, the narrator was English voice-over artist and presenter, Tim Wonnacott.
Antiques Road Trip was his primary job, while additionally hosting and narrating for other shows like Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, which aired between 2011 and 2021, before it was also discontinued.
Final thoughts
This year, Antiques Road Trip bids farewell to BBC One following the cancellation of the show without any reason given by the broadcaster.
The news was bittersweet for fans as the show was replaced by another new reality quiz show called Bridge of Lies.
Luckily, fans will always have past seasons of the show to binge watch. They can look back at Paul Laidlaw’s tenure as an expert of the show during the 2018 season run.
Laidlaw currently holds the record for the most money made on an artefact, with the sale of his Chambre Automatique camera, which auctioned for £20 000, which he bought for £60.