Hoarder Nigel must do his wife’s bidding and declutter
NIGEL HAVERS admits his hoarding habits are driving his wife crazy.
His other half, Georgiana Bronfman, has laid down the law over the collection which includes a stuffed crocodile.
She has told Nigel not only must he start decluttering their west London and Wiltshire homes, which are rammed with 19th century memorabilia, but he is banned from bringing back a single trinket.
The ex-coronation Street star, 68, said: “I’ve been collecting for 35 years, mostly Victorian stuffed fish and taxidermy.
“I have a big crocodile in the hall in London, which terrifies most people but is quite a good deterrent! I also collect 20th century British art, Victorian furniture and antique trophy cups. Basically, my house looks like the interior of a Ralph Lauren shop.”
Nigel’s antiques fetish makes him the perfect choice to host BBC One’sthe Bidding Room, in which collectors compete in a mini-auction to buy items brought in by punters – anything from an antique set of scales to 100-year-old hairdressing kit. But despite their disagreements over clutter, Nigel is devoted to his third wife, “George”, inset, who was a friend of his second wife, Polly Williams, who died of ovarian cancer in 2004.The pair fell for each other after Polly’s death, married in 2007 and are inseparable. “We just love each other,” enthuses Nigel. “It’s great.we’re two peas in a pod.”
Nigel is thrilled some fans still consider him alluring. “When people write to me calling me a sex symbol, I’m so delighted I write back saying, ‘Thank you and enclose a photo’, whether they wanted one or not,” he chortles.
He presents Channel Five’s Posh Hotels but is unlikely to be returning tothis Morning, which he co-hosted with Lisa Snowdon in August 2018 as a stand-in.
“After the week was done, I met the producer and I said, ‘I enjoyed it so much and I’d love to come back’.there was a silence and he was like, ‘Anyway...’.”