A star of BBC’s Antiques Roadshow found themselves issuing an apology to a guest after one item brought them to tears. Expert Marc Allum was left overcome with emotion when a guest brought in an “incredible” antique for him to share his thoughts on.
The guest, who grew up in the North of England in the 1980s, showed him a letter from the singer-songwriter, Kate Bush. They shared how they came about the sentimental piece, explaining that they were a “fairly isolated young gay man” without any friends to talk to about their sexuality. Because of this, they decided to express their feelings in poems, which they then shared via fan mail to the Running Up That Hill hitmaker and were surprised when the musician actually replied. Kate said that the fan was a “caring and sensitive” person in her touching reply.
The letter read: “Dear Mark, thank you for your lovely letter. It was good to hear from you. I really liked reading your poems and you come across as a sensitive, caring person.”
The note continued: “So much printed information is incorrect and my music (not what journalists say) is my gift to you. And I know you’ll look after that because you’d already said so. I hope you’re happy. Lots of love, Kate Bush.”
The guest emotionally shared: “I never expected to get a response,” the guest replied. “I sent them out there hoping she would read them. I didn’t expect to get a reply back at all.”
He added: “It felt incredibly important to me that somebody had listened to me and you know, just reading that gave me such a boost at the time.
“This was 40 odd years ago, she’s been creating great music since then and is number one around the world and that’s a testament to the power of the music that she wrote.”
Marc praised Bush as “one of the greatest musicians ever” as he was clearly taken aback by such a personal note. He then apologised to the guest for his “melodramatic” reaction, before going on to value the letter at between £400 and £500.
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