'I'm an Antiques Road Trip star and this is the most difficult thing about my BBC job'

She's one of TV's most popular antiques experts who has been dominating our screens since 2021. Irita Marriott was catapulted to fame on 's , and it didn't take long before she won over viewers up and down the country.

The brunette beauty has since become a regular presenter and antiques expert on and before she launched her very own antiques show, The Derbyshire Auction House back in 2023. Now, the Latvian antiques dealer is coming back with a bang with a second series of her REALLY daytime show which is set to hit the airwaves on May 5.

As she promoted her exciting new series, the mum-of-two has lifted the lid on the hard parts of the job on the show that fans may not know about. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, she admitted that she is a "therapist as well as an auctioneer" when seller's have trouble parting with goods they have a lot of emotional attachment too.

She told us: You always have to take emotions into account with everything that we do. We are therapists as well as auctioneers because every single day people walk through our doors and there will be prople that are vulnerable.

"Whether that's people who have lost somebody, or that items have a lot of memories and attacments, so you always have to be gentle." The broadcaster gave one example from the upcoming series where she needed to reassure one client who was nervous about selling her mother's items on the show.

Irita recalled: "In this series we had a lady who was selling her mother's items, and she was very cautious. During the clearance, she was very strong and brave with it, and she said, 'No, it all needs to go'.

"But then afterwards, it took us quite a few phone calls and a lot of messages and a lot of communication to reassure them that those items won't just be sold for £5 or £10. The items she had are desirable and they will go to someone who wants them again rather than being stuck in the drawers.

"So sometimes it's just talking people through the process and how it all works and what's going to happen, because when you've never sold anything in auction it's a scary environment."

She went on to reveal the differences between auctioneers and seller's when it comes to putting up items for sale which can sometimes cause friction behind the scenes.

Irita explained: "As auctioneers, we all love a come-and-get-me estimate and if there is a cheeky way of getting away with the lower estimate, we are going to say that.

"But from the seller's point of view, it's about finding that trust with us and making sure that they can really believe in what we say, that there is nothing to be worried about.

"That the items will sell and they will do well, but I think for a lot of people that's the scary bit - but that is also what makes good TV and what makes amazing results at auction."

The antiques expert went on to reveal how The Derbyshire Auction House is different from all the other antiques programmes on the airwaves, with a focus on the emotional connection guests have to their items.

She gushed: "I suppose that's the beauty of our show, its real people, its real feeling and everything is very much how you see it on screen.

"And I think that's why people can really look at it and I think I know exactly how that person feels because most of us have been though that hardship of losing somebody or needing financial help and having to sell something.

"I always say to people, just think how lucky you are that when you need to money that you have got something to sell and you're not just selling it and getting rid of it.

"You're giving it a new lease of life and at the same time, you're receiving a new lease of life because you're receiving the money that you really needed."

However, the broadcaster has warned that often the items that hold the most value to the sellers will do the worst at auction. She explained: "I always find that things that people have the most emotional attachmetn to are not always the most valyable.

They think they are valuable because they have an emotional attachment but actually it's the things that have been left in the background that are the biggest surprises."

The Derbyshire Auction House S2, Mondays from 5 May at 9pm on REALLY and available to stream on discovery+