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

The pair both appear on the BBC show

    Antiques Road Trip is adored by viewers for its incredible discoveries made by the presenters, and Izzie Balmer and Charles Hanson are certainly favoured among fans.

    MORE: Antiques Road Trip's Izzie Balmer talks downside of career

    The antique experts have appeared on the show which each other as well as other presenters, but how well do they know each other? We found out…

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    How do Izzie Balmer and Charles Hanson know each other?

    Izzie and Charles are both known for appearing on and , but they also have a career connection away from TV. Prior to working in broadcasting, Izzie gained valuable experience working in the world of antiques and auctions while working as a head valuer at the Wessex Auction rooms in Wiltshire.

    Charles also has a career away from TV and runs his own company, Hansons Auctioneers, with whom Izzie has worked before. In fact, it was Charles who introduced Izzie to the world of presenting. 

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    Izzie landed a job on Bargain Hunt thanks to Charles

    In a previous interview, Izzie explained how Charles was forced to pull out of an appearance on Bargain Hunt and so passed the gig onto her. "I suddenly got a phone call from Charles – five minutes before the auction was due to start at 10am. He was en route to Birmingham and wanted to offer me a few pearls of wisdom to help things go well.

    "It was his way of telling me I was going on TV. There were no other auctioneers available – it had to be me. I had to auction the Bargain Hunt lots in front of the cameras."

    Izzie then impressed producers and went on to appear onand. "I was thrilled – but a bit nervous," she told Derbyshire Life.

    Izzie is now a regular on the daytime show

    Are Izzie Balmer and Charles Hanson related?

    Izzie and Charles are not related but have been working together at industry events and on many daytime BBC programmes for a few years now.

    Izzie has also opened up about facing setbacks in her career and explained how a "male-dominated" industry has impacted her. "I do sometimes get older men presuming that I don't know anything," she told Stylist. "It's just a matter of overcoming their pre-conceived ideas, winning them round and gaining their confidence."

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    Charles, however, originally worked as a chartered surveyor before turning his hand to auctioning and TV presenting. The BBC host has worked for antique houses across the country including in Cheshire, Staffordshire, before founding his own, Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers, in Derbyshire. He's appeared onsince 2002. 

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