Izzie Balmer is a regular fixture on our TV screens thanks to her roles on Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip, which sees the jewellery expert travel up and down the country to share her expertise with members of the public. And the 35-year-old headed back on the road in the second series of BBC One's daytime hit, The Travelling Auctioneers.
But what do you know about the auctioneer's life away from the cameras? Keep reading to find out all we know about her home and family life...
Izzie's start in the antiques industry
After studying geography at Durham University, Izzie got a part-time job in a vintage shop while she decided what career path she wanted to take. It was her mum who inspired her to move into the world of antiques when she suggested her daughter do some work experience at a local auction house.
"After two weeks' work experience the auction house offered me a job and the rest, as they say, is history," she told the BBC.
© BBCIzzie's career has gone from strength to strength since then, and in December 2023, the valuer decided to commit to her career in TV and become self-employed, leaving her role as Head Valuer and Auctioneer at the Wessex Auction Rooms in Wiltshire.
Izzie's life away from the cameras and hobbies
While Izzie grew up in Quarndon, Derby with her parents Sheila and Toby, and younger brother Hugh, she now lives in Bristol. When she's not busy travelling across the UK for work, she spends her free time socialising with friends and going on walks. She's also an aspiring beekeeper and plays the viola in several Bristol orchestras.
© @izziedot/Instagram"I'm part of a string quartet, so we often have weddings and gigs," she told the BBC. "When I'm not playing, I like to socialise with my friends, go out for dinner, go on walks, visit new places, attempt to grow flowers and veggies, or on the very rare occasion I have a free 30 minutes, sit with a coffee and a book outside."
It's clear from Izzie's Instagram page that she loves to travel. The TV star has made trips to the Netherlands, France and Cornwall over the past couple of years.
© @izziedot/InstagramTaking to Instagram in August last year, Izzie posted a black and white snap taken on a beach in Cornwall and shared her love for the coastal county. "Cornwall is always what I need it to be, when I need it," she penned. "There's somehow a magic to Cornwall. Despite the smile I always present, sometimes the smile is a mask, and recently it's been a mask I've worn everyday. But coming to Cornwall has given me the courage I'd lost and the knowledge that everything will be fine in the end one way or another."
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Izzie's love life
While Izzie likes to keep her social media followers updated on what she gets up to when she's not filming, she keeps her love life very private. Therefore, it's not known whether Izzie is in a relationship.
