Two Bargain Hunt contestants have come out and revealed several behind-the-scenes secrets, including an accusation that the producers change the prices of the items.
Last year, father and daughter duo, Simon and Rosie Ellis, jumped at the opportunity to appear on the show. And while they made a loss, they still became champions, emerging victorious over the red team.
With the help of an antiques trade expert, the duo had a cracking time, but couldn't quite believe that the reality of being on the show is different to what we see on TV.
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In an exclusive interview with The Daily Mail, the pair claimed that producers would dictate prices during the haggling process due to a rule that is apparently unspoken.
Marketing Assistant Rosie alleged: 'We originally haggled down our first item to £3.50, but they said the Bargain Hunt can only show sales in pounds, so we had to go up to £4. We could've got more profit!"
Her father, managing director Simon, added: "There are also certain things you can't buy because of copyright reasons. You couldn't buy a picture of Marilyn Monroe, for instance, because if you showed it on the camera, that would be copyrighted, and they'd have to pay a fee. We wanted to buy a Coca-Cola sign but were told to leave it."
Fans of the show watch on the edge of their seats as two teams, race around frantically, with just one hour to make their three purchases. However, the race against the clock isn't quite as stressful as it appears on TV, with Rosie and Simon claiming that they browsed the antique fair for at least three hours.
Rosie explained: "They keep stopping the timer to go back over the scenes. You'll film an interaction, and they'll jump in and say, 'No, no, no, you can't do that'. So they'll go back and tell you to put your hand somewhere different and repeat what you said, and then they start the timer."
Seconding her story, Simon said that the filming process is extremely drawn out, as the producers struggle to nail down filming locations and who's willing to appear on camera. He chuckled: "I think some of those antiques might have been dodgy dealings!"
Supposedly, the longest wait occurs before the contestants even make it on camera. In what must be an agonising wait, the dad and daughter recounted sitting for hours on end in a green room as five whole episodes are filmed in a single day.
Simon said: 'It's a big room with the whole production crew, the cast and all the teams in the room together. You get a little table, and you're there for the whole day. It's quite boring because you sit at a table until they call you out. You're made to stay there until you're filmed."
In a huge scandal, Rosie and Simon revealed that producers have had to take a stand against cheating, with previous teams having ruined the spirit of the game by getting family or friends to bid to drum up profit.
Simon concluded: "It's so obvious in the episodes when someone has cheated, though. You can always tell when someone's like, 'Oh wow, that's made a lot of money', and it's not like they lose anything because you keep the profit."
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