Flog It tragedies from star's unexpected death to sick hoax

BBC programme Flog It! has left fans devastated over the years, with stars facing their fair share of tragedies - including the unexpected death of one expert after his "hospital hell". Elsewhere, bargain hunting experts have faced cruel hoaxes, family drama and even the death of a programme guest before he was saved by a stranger.

Broadcast on the BBC from 2002 until it finally ended in 2020, the show - presented by Paul Martin - has had its ups and downs before its cancellation amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Expert's hospital hell

Flog It! antiques expert Michael Baggott sadly died aged just 51 in January 2025 after a heart attack. In October 2024 he was hospitalised after a suspected stroke, and was left bedbound for months - but those months were marred by further tragedy.

Michael was subjected to a vile death hoax before his actual passing, and was forced to tell fans he was "not dead quite yet".

In emotional social media videos posted from his hospital bed, Michael said: "It's been a week now and I've been able to take fluids for two days. I was left without any water at all and have become badly dehydrated.

"For the last three days, I've been given a litre of water, which has been insufficient to stop me being dehydrated. The gaps between being given water have been 15 hours, 17 hours with no water, 12 hours with no water and currently 15 hours with no water intravenous."

He went on: "I'm dying of thirst in a British NHS hospital and no one seems prepared to do anything about it. I want to say the nursing staff, the junior doctors here, have been the saving grace. They all want to help but they can't. The senior management and the senior doctors, who I never see, always refuse water, always refuse treatment.

"One told me yesterday if I don't buck up my ideas, in three weeks I'll never be able to walk again. Of course the junior staff told me that was nonsense, but it's symptomatic of the treatment in this place. All the staff are busting their gut to help you, the management and the senior surgeons are not."

Another tragic death

Antiques expert David Barby was a familiar face on Flog It!, as well as rival BBC show Bargain Hunt. An expert in the business, he first appeared as an auctioneer on the programme and was soon employed as an expert. Sadly, in 2012 Barby suffered a stroke at his home.

He died two weeks later in a Coventry hospital, aged just 69. His Flog It! co-star Philip Serrell paid an emotional tribute to him at his memorial service, while Bargain Hunt's Tim Wonnacott also expressed his devastation at the unexpected death.

Deepfake ordeal

Flog It! expert Christina Trevanion spoke out about her horror deepfake ordeal earlier this year, after being targeted by vile trolls making explicit videos using her image without permission.

She said: "Last September I discovered my image had been used to create phony explicit videos known as deepfake porn. I was sent a very long list of sensitive URLs where my head had been AI-ed onto pornographic videos and images.

"As it sunk in, it was deeply distressing. I felt naive, and stupid and utterly violated in every single way."

'Dead for 10 minutes'

Another Flog It! expert suffered a cardiac arrest in 2018 - but after "dying for 10 minutes" he was thankfully saved by a stranger. BBC expert James Lewis collapsed at an equestrian centre in Staffordshire when a Good Samaritan began CPR and saved his life.

James said: "I am so lucky that he was there and knew what to do and without doubt he saved my life for which I am very grateful.

"He has since told me that he only went there on that day because he had heard three years before that the place did very good oatcakes for breakfast, so he went to try them."

James had a defibrillator inserted into his chest and spent two weeks in hospital after the ordeal.