An astounding thing is that, almost every single week, I have met someone from my past.
— Michael Aspel
It's like taking over This Is Your Life from Eamonn Andrews - you just open your mouth and hope you sound like yourself. That's all you can possibly do.
What I will learn over the years will be of benefit and interest to me personally but, as far as the program is concerned, I'm the mouthpiece of the viewers as well.
I still buy nice pieces but, at the moment, they're presents for other people, so I only collect vicariously.
It's nice to witness these discoveries at first hand.
You see these shuffling rows of shiny faces, waiting for their turn, so they're very dedicated to the program and desperate to know what it is they've got - so often, they have no idea.
I'm more nervous about doing this than anything I've ever done before, because it is so prestigious.
One of the experts bought his first piece at the age of four, so they did start very young, most of them. They did it out of genuine interest but today's kids are much more materialistic and there's a danger, I suppose, that they might just be out to make dosh.
