An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned and emotional to discover the staggering value of her collection of photographs with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The latest episode saw members of the public taking their prized possessions to Roundhay Park, Leeds, to be valued by experts.
One woman brought in a selection of bodybuilder magazines from the 1940s to be valued, but among them expert Clive Farahar discovered something much more special.
He found several old signed photos featuring famous star Arnold Schwarzenegger, now 76, in his youth.
Explaining their origin the guest said: ‘My dad was born in India and moved to Kenya and then to England. His passion from being young was weight training.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned and emotional to discover the staggering value of her collection of photographs with Arnold Schwarzenegger
The latest episode saw one woman bring in a selection of bodybuilder magazines from the 1940s to be valued, but among them expert Clive Farahar discovered something much more special
He found several old signed photos featuring famous star Arnold Schwarzenegger, now 76, in his youth
‘He was a builder but he always wanted to open his own gym, which he did in the seventies in Harrogate, the first one. And he first met Arnold at the age of 19 in London.
Clive pointed out one of the photos taken at the time, and said: ‘This is the young Arnold Schwarzenegger, gosh yes.’
The woman continued: ‘Arnold’s inspiration was a Leeds bodybuilder Reg Park, who made a film, Hercules. My dad called Arnold to do some seminars in 1981, to Leeds. He came to our house, Mum cooked.’
She showed one photo of her posing alongside Arnold with her mother and brother and another that the former politician and professional bodybuilder had autographed for her.
Clive showed a playful picture of Arnold and her father, who was clenching his bicep and said: ‘Obviously we’ve got a picture of Arnold here with your dad.’
The woman explained: ‘Lifting his arm up. He just thought my dad was so strong.’
Clive quipped: ‘And your father’s got all his clothes on, for heaven’s sake, we can’t possibly tell from that!”
He then got to the valuation and gushed: ‘That’s absolutely wonderful. Quite incredible. Well, how do I value this?
She showed one photo of her posing alongside Arnold with her mother and brother and another that the former politician and professional bodybuilder had autographed for her
Clive showed a playful picture of Arnold and her father, who was clenching his bicep and the woman explained: ‘Lifting his arm up. He just thought my dad was so strong’
‘You’ve got about four signed photographs of Arnold Schwarzenegger. What am I going to put on it? Well, I think just this small private section of the collection, I’m going to put £2,000.’
The guest gasped in shock as Clive went on: ‘£2,000 for unknown photographs of Arnold Schwarzenegger. As far as I can see, all absolutely private and early Arnold Schwarzenegger, too.’
The woman became emotional and teary-eyed as she learned the staggering value of her collection and said: ‘I’m very proud of my father for what he did and it’s good to share it with you. Something for Leeds.’
Clive added: ‘Thank you for sharing it with us, we love it.’
It comes after a guest was left stunned to discover the true value of two vases she had picked up in a charity shop during a recent episode from Derry, Northern Ireland.
One woman brought in two floral vases to be looked at, that she had purchased for just £1 each, after negotiating the price down at a charity shop.
She explained she had been about to throw them away, before deciding to bring them along to learn about their history.
Despite the ornaments not being in the best condition, expert John Sandon surprised the guest and the viewers by revealing they were actually very valuable.
Clive then revealed the value of the collection to be £2,000, causing the woman to become emotional and teary-eyed as she learned the staggering value of her collection
She said: ‘I’m very proud of my father for what he did and it’s good to share it with you. Something for Leeds’
He explained they were from a pottery firm called Belleek, with pieces being ‘highly prized’ by collectors.
What made the ceramics even more unique was their gold trim and tulip decoration, as John revealed that Belleek didn’t make many of that style.
He said that the pieces date all the way back to around 1870 and said one vase could sell for an eye-watering £700 to £1,000.
The guest was stunned and said: ‘Wow! I was actually going to dump them when I first brought them home! I didn’t like them.’ John chimed in to comment: ‘That £2 was well spent!’
It comes after a guest was left stunned to discover the true value of two vases she had picked up in a charity shop during a recent episode from Derry, Northern Ireland
