Bargain Hunt fans call for antiques expert to be sacked after blunder over item

Bargain Hunt's antiques expert Rajkumar 'Raj' Bisram has been dubbed a "liability" by fans following a blunder. The 68-year-old faced backlash when he persuaded two BBC contestants to shell out £90 for what they believed was an authentic Mouseman chopping board earlier this year.

At the point of purchase, Raj speculated that the wooden item could "get somewhere between £50 to £70" at auction, admitting his fondness for breadboards. However, when the seller quoted a "special price" of £130, the expert retorted: "There would be no profit on that. It's a nice thing but I would go to £100, but I can't go any lower than that, so we'll come back to it."

Ultimately, the pair returned to buy what they assumed was a Mouseman chopping board. Later in the episode, Christina Trevanion sought advice from an auctioneer about the item. The 42-year-old labelled the situation as "controversial".

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Reacting to this, the valuer confessed that the mouse had been stuck on, according to the Express. He further clarified that if the mouse had been "carved", there would have been no doubt about its authenticity as a Mouseman piece, reports OK!. "But if you look at it you can see it doesn't have the quality," he pointed out.

At the auction hall, the contestants were initially overjoyed after making a £10 profit on a wooden spoon. However, their happiness was short-lived when they discovered they'd brought a fake Robert Thompson item to the hall.

Christina broke the news to the red team with, "Now, your little chopping board, the auctioneers have catalogued it as Mouseman style." She continued, unveiling the situation further: "They have, unfortunately, seen another couple of examples that's just been stuck on, so probably not by Mouseman himself."

Raj conceded his oversight: "I have to take some of the blame because I didn't check that it was stuck on I've bought so many Mouseman pieces over the years and I've never needed to check."

Despite Raj's confession, the chopping board nonetheless fetched £25 at auction. The team described it as a "spectacular loss", whilst Raj had an optimistic perspective, stating it "could've been worse".

Once the episode aired, Bargain Hunt devotees voiced their views on X, formerly referred to as Twitter. One user expressed disappointment, saying: "Hopeless Raj should have noticed. #BargainHunt."

Another commented, "Raj should be sacked #bargainhunt", while additional remarks berated Raj's expertise, one twitterer pointing out it's his "only job" and another branding him, "That Raj is a liability #BargainHunt."

One viewer questioned the expert's assessment, asking: "How could an expert fail notice that isn't a Mouseman and you could buy one on a town market for £5? #bargainhunt."