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Charlie Ross, one of the UK’s best-loved auctioneers and TV personalities, has penned an autobiography to amuse the nation’s army of antiques fans.
Sold!, which is out this month. , reveals secrets galore from Charlie’s colourful life – including the fact that his mother decided at birth he would be a ballet dancer. And although dubbed ‘The Charmer’ on TV, Charlie admits he was known as ‘ET’ (Excused Tackling!) at his local rugby club.
Buckinghamshire-born Charlie, 73, who lives near Oxford, said: “My book came about because, when giving talks up and down the country, people said that as I had a wealth of fascinating and amusing stories I should put them into a book. As for my mother’s ballet dancer suggestion, that crazy idea was sparked by the fact that she herself had always harboured the idea of taking up the profession – until she became too top heavy!
“Then, along came Covid in 2020. This gave me a break in my normally hectic schedule in which to put pen to paper – literally, as my typing is non-existent! I wrote furiously for a few weeks and then stopped. Due to laziness?
“Sally, my wife, kept badgering me to finish it which I did, eventually. But, not being experienced in the written word, I realised that I needed someone to polish it in order to turn it into acceptable English. My brother, Stewart, being a much published author, did just that.
“I hope it will gain interest from the two million people who watch TV’s Bargain Hunt every day. Antiques Road Trip also has an incredibly strong following and, in the past, Flog It!. I have really enjoyed participating in all these programmes.
“Since starting a theatre tour, Antiques and a Little Bit of Nonsense, with Philip Serrell and Christina Trevanion in 2023, it has become even more apparent that people love a funny story from the world of antiques. After all, with the world as it is today, we all need something to make us smile.
“And so here it is, the story of my rather unusual journey from almost being a dentist – exam failure ended that dream – to travelling the world with my gavel, selling an interesting mix from the exotic to the more mundane. It’s been a lot of fun and long may it continue.”
Charlie, the second son of a social–climbing physio and a scooter salesman, describes his life as more of a mystery tour than a career. Sold! tells how, brushing aside academic misfortune, he ended up in the world of lots, gavels, cameras, cars, and cricket – always with a smile on his face and a quip on the tip of his tongue.
It reveals how he graduated from auctioning antiques in Woburn, Bedfordshire, to selling multi-million-dollar cars in California, for renowned American firm Gooding & Company. Charlie holds auction records for selling some of the most expensive cars in the world. In 2018, he sold a 1935 Duesenberg for $22 million (£17.5m).
Tales are also revealed about fellow TV antiques experts including what happened when he and Christina Trevanion planned to spend the night in a VW campervan.
The book has been ghosted by Charlie’s older brother, award-winning author Stewart Ross, who said: “Sold! is an account of an extraordinary life, told with wit, honesty and disconcerting modesty. It brims with personal photos and has won plaudits from Charlie’s celebrity friends. Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley says the book is “as much fun as going to one of Charlie’s auctions – at only a fraction of the cost!”
The Charlie Ross autobiography Sold! will be
available to buy on June 27.
