Flog It! star Michael Baggott has died in hospital after suffering a heart attack.
The BBC antiques expert, 65, had been in hospital since suffering a stroke in October, a statement posted on his social media confirmed on Monday evening.
‘Heartbroken to share that Michael died yesterday in hospital of a heart attack following a stroke in October,’ the post read.
‘He was a dearly loved son, brother, nephew and uncle who will be deeply and profoundly missed. There will be a memorial service in the coming weeks, the details of which will be shared here.’
Bargain Hunt and Antiques Roadshow star Charles Hanson was among those paying tribute.
‘Rest in peace @baggottsilver A giant of our antique industry, our ‘Arthur Negus ‘ and never afraid to call out ‘an expert’ who got it wrong including myself. Michael’s thirst for knowledge for the ‘object within’ merited far more TV time too for a true and proper expert.’
Flog It! star Michael Baggott has died after suffering a heart attack
Flog It! expert Nick Hall tweeted: ‘So sorry to hear this, Michael was a true connoisseur and ambassador of the antiques world, a font of knowledge and generous with his knowledge, a raconteur and all round top bloke, a pleasure to have known you Michael.’
BBC Presenter Roo Irvine tweeted: ‘Such sad news… condolences to Michael’s family.’
Bargain Hunt’s Colin Young added: ‘So sorry to hear this sad news. Michael made so many people smile, what more is there to wish for in life?’
TV expert David Harper tweeted: ‘So terribly sad, such a passionate, interesting and clever chap, who’ll be missed.’
Birmingham-born Michael had left fans worried in early December after sharing a series of videos from his hospital bed.
The BBC One antiques specialist told his social media followers that he had been bed bound at Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham for five weeks after suffering a stroke.
In a worrying series of clips posed to his X account, he claimed he had hardly been given any water and was ‘dying of thirst’.
Filming himself, he told fans: ‘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 antiques expert had been in hospital since suffering a stroke in October, a statement posted on his social media confirmed on Monday evening (pictured on the Antiques Roadshow in 2006)
Bargain Hunt and Antiques Roadshow star Charles Hanson was among those paying tribute
Michael had left fans worried in early December after sharing a series of videos from his hospital bed’
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 added: ‘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.’
He clarified in the comments that was into his ‘fifth bed bound week,’ before adding a new post 24 hours later, saying that he felt ‘happier’ and ‘more hopeful’.
Michael shared a throwback photo on December 23 with his sister, as he thought back ‘to much happier times’ whilst in hospital
Flog It! was a daytime television staple since it first hit screens back in 2002 and saw members of the public have their treasured possessions valued by a team of experts – pictured in 2022
It was axed in 2018 to make room for six new commissions to ‘modernise’ the daytime schedule
In the video, he said: ‘Hydration at last, Radio 3 blaring and slightly happier, slightly more hopeful. Thank you for everybody who either came or sent a message. Hopefully the way back starts now.’
contacted Good Hope Hospital for comment at the time.
The weeks leading up to Christmas saw the star tweeting regularly as he tuned into his favourite antiques TV shows.
He made a series of jokes about his health as he shared his expertise with followers, writing in a December 10 tweet: ‘Life changing events give you a new outlook, a new peace, a new gentility, a different frame of mind… BUT you’d have to run me over with a steamroller, several times, before I thought you’d get anywhere near £6-800 for this!!!’ alongside a screengrab from Antiques Roadshow.
The weeks leading up to Christmas saw the star tweeting regularly as he tuned into his favourite antiques TV shows
A heartbreaking post on the same day read: ‘There’s a thin chance that a meteor will fly down, in the form of a guiding star, on Christmas Day and precisely hit the room that I’m in, in hospital. fingers crossed.’
He shared a throwback photo with his sister on December 23, writing that he was ‘thinking back to much happier times.’
His final X post was shared on December 29, as he criticised another episode of Antiques Roadshow: ‘Expert: I can see these date London in 1758. Well, he must’ve had a f**king time machine because they’ve got the date letter for 1762 struck on them. You can get away with this s**t when I’m dead, not before#AntiquesRoadshow.’
Michael, the son of a wholesale market trader, was one of BBC One’s Flog It’s most recognisable faces, with his expert categories being antique silver, smallwork, boxes, early spoons, provincial and continental silver.
His final X post was shared on December 29, as he criticised another episode of Antiques Roadshow
He purchased his first antique for just £22 – a Chester silver Vesta case, while he was still in school.
During his esteemed career he worked at auction house Christie’s while still a university student. And after studying for his degree, he led Sotheby’s southern silver department for four years before transitioning to a private consultant role.
He was also an accomplished author on the subject of silver, with An Illustrated Guide to York Hallmarks 1776 – 1858 among his published works.
Flog It! was a daytime television staple since it first hit screens back in 2002 and saw members of the public have their treasured possessions valued by a team of experts.
However, it was axed in 2018 to make room for six new commissions to ‘modernise’ the daytime schedule.
A year ago Michael was at the centre of a death hoax and was forced to reassure his fans that he was alive and well. Posting on his official X, formerly Twitter, account, Michael reposted the fake death story about him, telling his followers: ‘The truth is it’s the ‘Vintage Specialist’ bit that really hurts… Not dead quite yet.’