Antiques Road Trip star's candid confession on 'tough' childhood with alcoholic dad

She's one of TV's most popular antiques experts who has been dominating our screens since 2021. Irita Marriott was catapulted to fame on BBC's , and it didn't take long before she won over viewers up and down the country.

The brunette beauty has since become a regular presenter and antiques expert on and before she launched her very own antiques show, The Derbyshire Auction House back in 2023. Now, the Latvian antiques dealer is coming back with a bang with a second series of her REALLY daytime show which is set to hit the airwaves on May 5.

As she promoted her exciting new series, the mum-of-two has eyed up her dream role on another BBC reality show as she gave fans a candid insight into her childhood.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, she told us about her dream to one day compete on Strictly Come Dancing. Irita gushed: "I mean, if there were some crazy stars aligning - which I can't ever see actually happening - but when I was a little girl, my upbringing was tough, put it that way.

"We were poor, my dad was a lifelong alcoholic and times were hard. But the one thing that my mum and me used to watch on telly to kind of take our minds off things was ballroom dancing.

"And I remember being very little and twirling around the house and I wanted to be that girl in a feather-bottomed gown twirling around the floor being completely free and feeling like there is no weight in the world at all.

"If I could make that one thing happen, I don't care what the show would be, if someone can make that happen, that would be the ultimate dream for me."

The broadcaster revealed that she and her family have become devoted fans to the ballroom reality show, with her sons even picking out her dream partner on the BBC show.

She gushed: "Honestly, my kids and I, we are absolutely obsessed with Strictly at home. My boys watch it and we all write charts and we have paddles and everything. And they've discussed between them who my partner would be if I was ever on and things like that, and they've both said the same thing.

"They said, 'We would love to see you on it but we want you to be out in week one'. Ideally, they want me to be partnered with Johannes [Radebe]. They say, 'Mummy, mummy, you need to be with Johanes, he looks very kind, he's really handsome'.

"My youngest one said in this year's series of Strictly, there was a moment where Johannes teared up and he said to me, 'He has a very kind heart'. And I thought, 'If you ever want a partner in your life for anything, you want one with a kind heart'."

The Derbyshire Auction House S2, Mondays from 5 May at 9pm on REALLY and available to stream on discovery+