TV is turning the team at the Wessex Auction Rooms near Chippenham into celebrities who can’t move around town without getting stopped by fans.

Following the popularity of director Tim Weeks with viewers, now his colleague Izzie Balmer is getting snapped up for appearances on the big antiques shows.

Izzie, the 33-year-old head valuer and jewellery expert at the auction rooms, is proving much in demand with TV producers, so much so that she has been starring on BBC1’s much-watched Antiques Road Trip every day this week.

Now she has been booked to appear on a new series of the BBC’s Bargain Hunt and she starts recording another series of Road Trip in March.

“I’m very fortunate,” said Izzie, who is prevented by BBC rules from saying how she fares on TV this week, when she is up against veteran antiques expert David Harper.

“I can’t reveal what will happen, but I can say that it’s a nail-biting final,” she said.

Her colleague Martin Hughes, the music specialist director, has also recently been on the box, as auctioneer on David Dickinson’s Real Deal on ITV, and Tim Weeks has become a well-known face after appearing on Bargain Hunt for five years.

“Tim is spotted and stopped by people all the time when he’s walking around Chippenham. Although many do not realise that he’s working on their doorstep ,”said Martin.

“It’s really quite unusual for an auction house to have so many of its team on the telly, but it’s great business for us to be noticed as TV adds that element of trust.”

Izzie, who first appeared on Antiques Road Trip two years ago, said she is often amazed that people recognise her so much.

She said: “For some reason I get recognised at National Trust properties all the time. Even if I’m wearing no make-up and I’m wearing a Covid mask people come up to me and ask for autographs.

“I also get a lot of attention from men working in the streets, they are often asking me for a selfie.”