When you switch on your television and see that distinctive flaming red hair and infectious enthusiasm for antiques on BBC’s Bargain Hunt or Antiques Road Trip, you’re witnessing something quite remarkable. Irita Marriott represents one of the most inspiring transformation stories in the British antiques world. Her journey from a struggling childhood in Latvia to becoming one of the UK’s most recognized antiques experts isn’t just a career progression—it’s a testament to determination, hard work, and the courage to chase opportunities even when you’re terrified.
I have followed Irita’s career with genuine admiration because her story breaks the traditional mold of what we expect from antiques experts. There is no family heritage of dealing, no privileged background with access to fine art collections, and certainly no formal education in the field. What she has instead is something far more valuable: an unshakeable work ethic and the ability to learn quickly under pressure. In just over a decade, she has transformed herself from a complete novice to a television personality and one of the few female auction house owners in the United Kingdom .
Who Is Irita Marriott?
Irita Marriott has become a household name among British television viewers who enjoy antiques programs. She is an antiques expert and dealer based in the United Kingdom, best known for appearing on BBC One’s Antiques Road Trip, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, and Bargain Hunt. In 2023, she opened Irita Marriott Auctioneers and Valuers, making her one of very few female-led auction house owners in the UK . Her signature red hair makes her instantly recognizable, but it is her genuine enthusiasm for discovering treasures and her down-to-earth personality that have made her such a popular figure with viewers.
What makes Irita particularly interesting is her complete transparency about being self-taught. Born in Latvia in 1984, she moved to the UK in her early twenties and has been working in the antiques industry for just over a decade. Today, she runs a successful international dealing business, has her own auction house in Melbourne, Derbyshire, and regularly appears on some of Britain’s most-watched daytime television programs . Unlike some experts who can seem intimidating or overly academic, Irita brings an accessible, friendly approach to antiques that encourages everyday people to explore the field themselves. She once admitted that prior to finding her vocation in antique dealing, she had never knowingly handled an antique, so she was really throwing herself into the deep end .
The Early Years: Growing Up in Latvia
Understanding Irita’s background helps explain her incredible drive and determination. She was born in Latvia in 1984, living on a country farm that was fully self-sufficient with her numerous siblings. This wasn’t the romanticized farm life you might see in magazines—they only ate what they could forage, grow, kill, or catch. When her mother and father divorced, the family’s circumstances became even more difficult, and she remembers being very poor, walking the riverbanks to see whether anybody had left food next to fire pits where they had had barbecues .
What strikes me most about this part of her story is how she frames it. She is remarkably open about the poverty she experienced, but she doesn’t dwell on it with bitterness. Instead, she acknowledges that while her childhood wasn’t easy, it gave her the strength and determination she would later need to succeed in a competitive industry. “My childhood wasn’t rosy but it was good and made me who I am today,” she has reflected . That perspective is rare and admirable.
These experiences of genuine hardship shaped the person she would become—resourceful, resilient, and never taking opportunities for granted. The resourcefulness learned on that farm, where nothing went to waste, would later translate perfectly into the world of antiques, where one person’s trash is truly another’s treasure.
Taking the Leap to America
One moment changed everything for young Irita Marriott. At school, a teacher told her, “You will be a no one! You won’t make it in life without English” . Many people might have internalized that as a limitation, but Irita turned it into motivation. She applied for an au pair job in the US and set off to New York with barely any English language knowledge at all, just an English dictionary in hand.
Think about that for a moment. A young woman from rural Latvia, with almost no knowledge of English, deciding to move to New York City. Being thrown in the deep end worked, and three months later she could speak English and understand everyone around her . That accelerated learning curve would become a pattern in her life. It demonstrates a core aspect of her personality: she doesn’t wait for skills to come to her; she immerses herself in situations where she has to learn or fail.
The American experience gave Irita Marriott more than just language skills. It gave her confidence in her ability to adapt to new situations, learn quickly, and thrive outside her comfort zone. After two years, she decided to visit her family back in Latvia planning to return to the US straight after, but life had other plans . These skills would prove invaluable when she later entered the antiques world with zero background knowledge.
Finding Her Way to the United Kingdom
Life rarely follows the plans we make. After her visit home to Latvia, one thing led to another, and she ended up on a bus to the UK at just 20 years old . She arrived with the same determination that had seen her through the American adventure, ready to build a new life from scratch.
Her first job in Britain wasn’t glamorous. She worked as a temporary Christmas worker in a garden centre where she soon worked her way up to run the department, progressing to buyer over seven years . This garden centre experience taught her valuable lessons about retail, customer service, and most importantly, buying—skills that translate directly to the antiques business. She learned how to spot quality, negotiate prices, understand what customers want, and manage stock. Without realizing it, she was building the foundation for her future career.
After meeting her husband, she moved to Derbyshire, and that is when her life would take its most dramatic turn yet. The skills she had honed in retail management were about to be tested in a completely new arena.
The Unexpected Entry Into the Antiques World
Here’s where Irita Marriott‘s story takes its most dramatic turn. After working in retail and wholesale management, Irita was made redundant. Being unemployed is stressful for anyone, but what happened next was completely unexpected. Her mother-in-law turned up one day with a job lot from an auction, bought to give Irita something to do, but presented it with the catch that Irita owed her eighteen hundred pounds .
As Irita herself said, “I didn’t have a job and I didn’t have the money to pay her back. I had no interest in antiques whatsoever. But I was determined to give her the money back. It was as simple as that” . This is where Irita’s character shines through. Faced with an eighteen-hundred-pound debt and no income, she didn’t panic or make excuses. She got to work. After spending two weeks researching antiques and going to antiques fairs to try to make money for her mother-in-law, Irita was “absolutely hooked” .
“A member of family turned up one day, and they had brought a car load of job lots from an auction, just as something for me to do,” recalls Irita. “They said, ‘here you go, there are all these antiques,’ which to me didn’t look like anything, because I had no idea what I was looking at.”
I find this moment fascinating because it reveals something important about discovering your calling. Irita Marriott didn’t grow up loving antiques or dreaming of becoming a dealer. She stumbled into it through necessity, but once exposed to the world of antiques, she recognized something in it that resonated deeply with her skills and personality.
Building Expertise From the Ground Up
Prior to finding her vocation in antique dealing, she had never knowingly handled an antique, so she was really throwing herself into the deep end . But Irita understood something crucial: if she wanted to succeed, she needed proper training. To help get a fuller understanding of the business, she took a part-time job in a local auction house as a salesroom assistant where she had an opportunity to work with a huge variety of antiques and learn on the job .
She managed to get a job in a Derbyshire auction house as a part-time cataloguer. She stayed at the auction house for seven years whilst dealing independently on the side . This dual approach was brilliant—she had the security of employment while building her own dealing business, and she had daily access to hundreds of items passing through the auction house, which accelerated her learning exponentially. She has noted that it was a steep learning curve but when you love what you do, learning is easy .
During these seven years, Irita Marriott became a cataloguer and valuer, developing the eye and knowledge that would later make her a television star. She recalls how she would get up at 3 a.m. to travel all over the country and abroad to source and sell items at antique fairs, doing this while caring for her two young sons . That’s the reality behind the glamorous television appearances—years of pre-dawn starts, long drives, and balancing business with family life.
This experience broadened her knowledge of antiques and the industry, leading her to become an expert in the field, as well as building a loyal clientele worldwide as a result of her ability to source high-quality objects .
The Television Breakthrough
The BBC programme Bargain Hunt had filmed Irita Marriott several times on stalls at antiques fairs, and that ignited her interest in television. But Irita didn’t sit around hoping someone would notice her. She was obsessed with another TV show, Antiques Road Trip, managed to get the executive producer’s phone number and rang him .
That phone call took courage. Think about cold-calling a television executive to pitch yourself as a presenter. But Irita had learned that opportunities don’t find you—you have to chase them. “Everybody on these shows are headhunted,” she explained to the BBC. “No-one was going to come to look for me because I was just a small-time dealer, just like hundreds others, thousands others. I thought, ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ The worst that can happen is they will say no, but at least I will be OK knowing that I tried” .
After six months of auditions, screen tests, and home videos, she got a call to say she’d been accepted for the show despite there being tough competition . In April 2021, it was announced that Irita Marriott would be joining the likes of Philip Serrell, David Harper, and Natasha Raskin Sharp on Antiques Road Trip. She made her debut alongside antiques dealer Timothy Medhurst for a journey around Lincolnshire. The response from viewers was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. People connected with her authenticity, her expertise, and her obvious joy in the work.
“I was one of those mega fans of Antiques Road Trip,” Irita admits. “I remember saying in my first year as a dealer, ‘one day I want to be good enough to be on a show like that’.”
From there, her television career expanded rapidly. She became a regular expert on Bargain Hunt, appeared on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, and featured on Channel 4’s The Greatest Auction. By 2024, she even had her own series on Really TV called The Derbyshire Auction House, where she helps people uncover potential treasures in their homes .
Reflecting on her time with Bargain Hunt, she talked about her work-life balance, and living her life away from family for long periods of time while filming. She said: “Life on the road has two sides – one of excitement seeing new people and places, having adventures, and one of simply being away from home, missing my loved ones and lots of commuting” . Despite the challenges, she views it as a chance to create lasting memories, adding, “But when you look at it as a whole it’s an incredible opportunity to build memories – and I sure love that” .
Creating Her Own Auction House
Irita Marriott believed the next natural step would be her own auction house. In 2023, she made that vision a reality. Irita Marriott Auctioneers and Valuers opened in Melbourne, Derbyshire, making her one of only a handful of women in the UK to own and run their own auction house .
This achievement is particularly significant in an industry that has traditionally been male-dominated. In interviews, Irita has spoken openly about the misogyny that’s embedded in the antiques business. Rather than letting these barriers stop her, she broke through them and created her own space in the industry. “There are only a handful of auction houses out of over 3,000 in England that are run or owned by a female, and also the fact it’s a new business, there’s so much on the line,” she told the BBC .
The auction house reflects Irita’s personality and business philosophy. It’s friendly, accessible, and designed to make auctions less intimidating for regular people. Talking about her business motto, she said: “I want to continue to unite people with beautiful objects but make it easy for them to do so by buying online at Irita Marriott Auctioneers” . The website offers a wide range of items up for sale, including gold jewellery, tea and coffee sets, jars, and vases.
For Irita, setting up an auction house felt like “the next most natural step” in her career. “I thought it was time for a change and the Auction House was the next obvious thing,” explained the Latvia-born TV star. It was a decision she made with her two boys in mind. “Being a dealer, I am my business. If I have a day off, I don’t earn and I have nothing I can pass on to my boys when the time comes. But at the same time, there’s absolutely zero pressure. But by having an auction house it gives them the option,” she added .
Her new programme, The Derbyshire Auction House, charts her journey as she founded the business. While Irita has over a decade of experience in the antiques industry, opening an auction house came with unique challenges. “You have the pressure of brand new business and, of course, I’m a working mum on top of that, and then all of a sudden you add a TV show that you spend five days a week filming into the mix,” she said, adding that 15 to 18-hour days became “the norm” .
Life at the Auction House
As well as documenting Irita’s journey setting up her business, The Derbyshire Auction House features personal stories from the people who turn to the auction house for help. “People who have taken part have been absolutely incredible,” she says. “My most precious moments are where people open up and then we find something they thought wasn’t worth much and we end up selling it for a lot of money” .
One remarkable discovery involved a seemingly ordinary kitchen utensil. “For example, I found a spoon in someone’s house that has been sat in an understairs cupboard for over six years and I sold it for £3,300,” she revealed . In another instance, she shared, “It had interest from museums in Australia and it ended up being sold to a private collector in California for £3,300” .
Despite her “full-on” schedule, seeing punters go home with “life-changing” amounts of cash made it all worth it for Irita. “It’s been incredibly rewarding seeing all those people leave our auction with smiles on their faces and grateful that we have passed on the items that they no longer needed to someone that will cherish them again,” explained the Bargain Hunt star, who said one family went home with a staggering £28,000 thanks to her auction house .
“My favourite thing when it comes to the items themselves is finding something that people didn’t know what they were – or didn’t know what those items could be worth – and telling them the stories of the items,” she gushed . This ability to connect people with the hidden history and value of their possessions is what makes Irita Marriott stand out in her field.
Personal Life and Balancing Family
Irita Marriott likes to keep her cards close to her chest when it comes to her personal life, so not much is known about her life away from cameras, but Irita has confirmed that she is indeed married with two lovely sons . Not much is known about her husband, except that the happy couple currently live and work between Derbyshire and Bristol .
What we do know is that her family is deeply integrated into her work. She once described her leisure activity as “Hunting for antiques with my two boys in tow,” adding that “They are developing a love for it and I love watching the excitement of them finding things and learning about them” . This integration of family and business is something many working parents strive for but few achieve as successfully.
On juggling her busy career with family life, Irita said: “It’s always a challenge being a working mum. I’ve got two kids and a husband and it’s a real juggle.” Praising her supportive family, she continued: “I couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for the support of my family. They have been absolutely incredible through the process and have had my back every single step of the way. I’m very lucky. But I’m not afraid of hard work and they know that” .
The fact that she built her entire antiques career while raising two young sons makes her achievements even more impressive. It wasn’t a case of establishing herself first and then having children, or putting her career on hold during the early parenting years. She did both simultaneously, getting up at 3 a.m. for antiques fairs while caring for babies and toddlers.
Despite her busy schedule, she also finds time for relaxation. The television personality opened up about her favourite indulgences, expressing a fondness for cruises as “the best kind of holiday there is.” “You can stay in the same room for weeks, yet you wake up in a different city each day. It’s a win-win for me, and the food on there isn’t bad either,” she added .
Friendships and Staying Power
Through her television work, Irita Marriott has formed lasting friendships with her co-stars. She has a particularly close bond with fellow antiques expert, Mark Hill. “Oh my God, he’s an absolute sweetheart,” said Irita. “That trip with him, I gained so much positivity from that and an incredible friend for life. He’s like my big little brother” .
On Instagram, Irita often shares some behind the scenes shots of herself on the road alongside her fellow experts. In a photograph with Danny Sebastian, Irita captioned the post: “It’s all over! It was an amazing time filming this @antiqueroadtrip. Lots of laughter and joy with @mrsebastiandaniel and all the crew. Thank you for everyone who tuned in and watched it! Memories made to last a life time!” .
While her new series has been keeping her busy, fans will be pleased to know that Irita Marriott has no plans to quit Bargain Hunt or Antiques Road Trip. Speaking to Hello! magazine, she shared: “I would never want to stop that, because I really, truly enjoy that. I hope I can carry on for the next 20, 30 years!” . This commitment to her roots, even as she expands her own brand, endears her to viewers who appreciate her authenticity.
Impact on the Antiques Industry
Irita Marriott‘s influence extends beyond her television appearances. By opening her own auction house, she is actively working to change the face of the industry. As a working mother and a self-taught expert, she represents a different path into the antiques world—one that is accessible to anyone with passion and determination, not just those with formal education or family connections.
The working mother of two hopes the auction house and her programme will “fly a flag for females in the industry” . In an industry where women are often seen on screen but less frequently in ownership roles, Irita is breaking new ground. She is not just participating in the antiques world; she is actively reshaping it to be more inclusive and less intimidating.
Her success sends a powerful message: that you don’t need a fancy degree or a family trust fund to make it in this business. You need curiosity, work ethic, and the willingness to learn. “I have to pinch myself every single day because I consider myself so lucky to be able to do a job that I love and have all of this going on around me when I think of where I came from,” said the star .
Conclusion
The story of Irita Marriott is far more than a television personality profile. It is a modern fairy tale, grounded not in magic but in grit, determination, and the courage to bet on oneself. From foraging for food on riverbanks in Latvia to owning her own auction house in Derbyshire, her journey defies every expectation. She took the words of a dismissive teacher and turned them into fuel. She took a debt to her mother-in-law and turned it into a career. She took a cold call to a TV producer and turned it into a national platform.
What makes Irita so compelling to watch on Bargain Hunt or Antiques Road Trip is that her enthusiasm is genuine. She knows what it’s like to have nothing, so she truly appreciates the value of things—not just their monetary worth, but their history, their craftsmanship, and their connection to people’s lives. She is living proof that it is never too late to find your passion and that the traditional routes aren’t the only ones that lead to success.
As she continues to build her auction house, appear on our screens, and inspire the next generation of dealers—including her own two sons—one thing is clear: Irita Marriott is just getting started. Her story resonates because it feels possible. It reminds us that with hard work and a little bit of courage, we might just discover a treasure of our own.
Frequently Asked Questions about Irita Marriott
How did Irita Marriott get started in antiques?
Irita Marriott entered the antiques world quite by accident. After being made redundant, her mother-in-law presented her with a carload of job lots from an auction, telling Irita she owed her £1,800. With no job and no money, Irita was determined to pay her back. She spent two weeks researching, sold the items at a profit, and found herself “absolutely hooked” on the antiques trade .
Is Irita Marriott married and does she have children?
Yes, Irita Marriott is married and has two sons. While she keeps her family life relatively private, she has shared that her family is incredibly supportive of her career. She often involves her boys in her work, taking them to antiques fairs, and notes that they are “developing a love for it” .
What is Irita Marriott Auctioneers and Valuers?
Irita Marriott Auctioneers and Valuers is Irita Marriott‘s own auction house, which she opened in 2023 in Melbourne, Derbyshire. It is one of very few female-led auction houses in the UK. The business focuses on uniting people with beautiful objects and making the auction process accessible through online bidding .
What TV shows has Irita Marriott appeared on?
Irita Marriott is a regular expert on BBC One’s Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip (including Celebrity Antiques Road Trip). She has also appeared on Channel 4’s The Greatest Auction. In 2024, she began starring in her own series on Really TV called The Derbyshire Auction House, which follows her as she runs her new business .
Where is Irita Marriott from originally?
Irita Marriott was born in Latvia in 1984. She grew up on a self-sufficient farm and experienced significant poverty in her childhood. She moved to the US as an au pair in her late teens to learn English, and eventually made her way to the UK at the age of 20, where she has built her life and career .
Has Irita Marriott ever found anything particularly valuable on her shows?
Yes, one of her most notable discoveries was a spoon she found in a family’s under-stairs cupboard, where it had sat for over six years. She recognized its potential value, and when it went to auction, it sold for an impressive £3,300 to a private collector in California. She also helped one family take home £28,000 from her auction house .
