Charles Hanson has made an emotional return to BBC daytime favourite Bargain Hunt just weeks after being cleared of abusing his wife.
The antiques expert, 46, appeared on Monday’s episode of the long-running show – marking his first television appearance since 2023.
Hanson, who has also starred in Antiques Roadshow, Flog It! and Antiques Road Trip, had been off air while facing serious allegations of assault and coercive control against his wife Rebecca. He had denied all the charges.
In February, a jury at Derby Crown Court found him not guilty on all counts after a three-week trial which laid bare the collapse of his marriage to the 42-year-old radiographer. The couple are now divorcing.
During the trial, Hanson was accused of a decade of abuse, including putting his pregnant wife in a headlock, pushing and scratching her, and controlling her behaviour. He told jurors she was a ‘fantasist’ and claimed he had been a ‘slave’ to her demands.
Following his acquittal, the TV star sobbed in the dock before punching the air in relief and embracing his parents, Phillip and Gillian, who sat in court throughout the proceedings.
Speaking outside court in February, Hanson said: ‘I’m delighted after a year and half that the truth has finally come out and can finally live my life and feel this burden has finally been lifted.
Charles Hanson has made an emotional return to BBC daytime favourite Bargain Hunt just weeks after being cleared of abusing his wife
Bargain Hunt auctioneer Charles Hanson pictured leaving Derby Crown Court with his parents following the not guilty verdict
‘It has been a tormentous time and all I want now is to readjust to what has been such an ordeal.
‘These last 18 months have been extremely upsetting. I have missed my children and quite simply I can now get back to my life and I relish that. It has been very impactful.
‘I am very lucky my parents have stood by me from start to finish – without my family it would have been a very, very testing time.’
He added: ‘When you believe in justice you know justice and here we are today. It has taken a long, long time and to anyone who knows me, who has believed in me, who has supported me, who has messaged me – thank you.’
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BREAKING NEWS Sobbing Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson says ‘I can finally live’ as he’s cleared of abusing wife
On Monday’s Bargain Hunt, Hanson was back doing what he’s known for – valuing antiques and wielding the gavel on the rostrum at Bishton Hall in Staffordshire, alongside fellow expert Christina Trevanion.
Fans were quick to welcome him back, with many taking to social media to share their support.
One viewer wrote on X: ‘Charles, it was lovely to see you again on Bargain Hunt today, you have been missed so much.’
Another said: ‘Great to see you back on @BBCBargainHunt this afternoon, it was a lovely surprise. You were missed.’
‘Ooooh Charles is back now he’s been acquitted,’ a third posted, while another added: ‘Good to see @HansonsAuctions back on the BBC #bargainhunt.’
Following the broadcast, Hanson took to social media himself to thank supporters.
‘Evening all, I just want to say, thank you,’ he said.
‘I’ve had so many messages on social media having been seen performing today on television, it means an awful lot.
‘So much kindness in messaging me, thanks so much.’
The auctioneer and his wife Rebecca Hanson are pictured outside their Derbyshire home
TV auctioneer Charles Hanson, 46, alongside a rare imperial Chinese ‘teapot’
Hanson, a former pupil at Ecclesbourne School, in Derbyshire, was just 24 when he first appeared on Antiques Roadshow and Bargain Hunt, selected as programme makers tried to make the show more appealing to a younger generation.
At the time, he was working as fine arts manager at Wintertons Fine Art, which has auction houses in Lichfield and Bakewell, after completing a degree in Fine Art and Evaluation at Southampton University.
From there, he trained for a year and a half at Christies in London, before returning to live in Derbyshire when he joined Wintertons.
He went on to set up his own auction house, Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, in 2005 and now has 10 across the UK. Until his arrest in June 2023, he was a regular on Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip and Flog It! where he was known for his flamboyant auctioneering style.
He also regularly appeared in both local and national newspapers after unearthing gems such as a pair of bloomers said to have belonged to Queen Victoria, which sold for £4,500, and a 12,000-year-old mammoth bone, handed to him during one of his regular valuation days at his auction house.
Hanson, who is rumoured to have undergone a hair transplant in recent years, was also in demand as an auctioneer at charity evenings in Derbyshire and around the country, so much so that the judge at the start of his trial had to put on record that he had attended a dinner hosted by Hanson, though did not know him personally.
