TV antiques expert forced to turn down BBC Strictly after huge disappointment

Drew Pritchard - star of Salvage Hunters - revealed show bosses asked him to take part in Strictly Come Dancing but he was forced to turn it down. The TV expert had opted to swap antiques for the dancefloor, however, he never made it onto the programme.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Express Online, the expert admitted he agreed to be a contestant on the beloved BBC programme.

Drew commented: "It was a long time ago and my agent said to me, 'Strictly would like for you to go on [the show].' And I was like, 'Yeah right.' And he went, 'No for real.'

"It still seems ridiculous. And I said, 'hell, yeah.' Literally, for my mum.

"My mum is a massive Strictly fan and I said, 'Yes, of course I'm going to do that.' I'll be terrible but I'll give it a go."

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While Drew agreed to take part in the show series he revealed his "full-on" schedule halted his plans.

He shared: "The [show bosses] said you need six weeks or three months or some time scale and there was no way of doing it.

"My schedule is full-on and we just couldn't fit it in so we couldn't do it."

Strictly will return in a matter of days with the first show set to air on BBC One on Saturday 14, September.

The first live show will take place the following week, on September 21.

Meanwhile, Salvage Hunters has since returned to Quest with brand new episodes and series 18 also sees a major change for the show, with the departure of Drew's longtime travel companion John Tee (aka 'T').

The show's leading expert is joined by two assistants, fellow dealers Alister Dryburgh and Viki Knott, and Drew uses his expertise to mentor them in the business of antiques. It comes after T's exit was announced last year.

Series 18 of Salvage Hunters airs on Quest, Wednesdays at 9pm. Also available to stream on Discovery+