antiques roo irvine© Photo: BBC

Antiques Road Trip star Roo Irvine reveals how tragic family loss shaped her career

The presenter opened up about her past

Senior Features Writer
July 18, 2022

Antiques Road Trip presenter Roo Irvine, whose full name is Arusha Irvine, has opened up about how a devastating family loss played a part in her career.

MORE: Antiques Road Trip's David Harper opens up about 'worst' part of show

The expert, who runs her own antique shop in Scotland alongside her husband Mark, previously revealed on an episode of the podcast, Things I Forgot Were Good For Me, how the sudden loss of both her father and her father-in-law prompted the couple to make a big change to their everyday lives.

WATCH: Meet Antiques Road Trip newest presenter, Mark Hill

Explaining how their business venture, Kilcreggan Antiques, was created, Roo said: "Up until about eight years ago, we owned a call centre on the Isle of Man, we were travelling around, we were in marketing sales and we were very much in the rat race.

"And about eight years ago, both of our fathers passed away within three weeks of each other. Completely unexpected on my part, the worst day of my life."

MORE: Antiques Road Trip: Inside Izzie Balmer and Charles Hanson's friendship and career connection

MORE: Antiques Road Trip: Meet Irita Marriott's husband and family

© Photo: BBC

Roo on Antiques Road Trip

The presenter continued: "And we recently became addicted to auctions, and we furnished our big Victorian house from them and we had so much surplus stuff. And my hubby said, 'Well listen, why don't we start selling some of these on eBay online?'

"We only discovered antiques because we discovered auctions and wanted to furnish a house and that's the first real contact I had with beautiful antiques that were one 200 to 300 years old."

The couple's business was then eventually visited by the BBC when Roo was asked to be an expert on Bargain Hunt, and the rest, as they say, is history!

© Photo: BBC

The presenter also recently became a lead host on Bargain Hunt

"It is one of those stories where from the darkest day of your life, a whole new adventure starts and it goes to prove what that day has in store for you," she continued, adding: "Just when you think you're heading down a path, it will take you down a different one."

Meanwhile, Roo was more recently asked to be a regular lead host on Bargain Hunt, after already appearing as an expert. Last month, she made her debut as a lead presenter on the BBC show, which she described as "exhilarating, exciting and great fun". 

Like this story? Sign up to our What to Watch newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up to Off Camera for all the gossip and goings-on from the wonderful world of TV and film

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More TV and Film

See more