One star heard seven chilling words in his ear when he was held hostage by jewel thieves. Jewellery expert John Benjamin starred on the programme from 1997 until 2021, but before getting his start in TV worked as an apprentice at a jewellery shop to get his feet on the career ladder - but things quickly went downhill.

Encouraged by his elder sister Doris to get a job in Bloomsbury when he was still young, John ended up landing a role at Cameo Corner, run by Moshe Oved. Things quickly turned terrifying when a gang of robbers entered the shop, lining every employee against a wall as they rummaged through the goods.

In an interview with the Jewellery Valuers Association, John said: "In 1974 we suffered an armed robbery and nearly all the best stock was stolen, never to be seen again. No doubt the ancient gold was melted down and sold for scrap. It still hurts. The shop staggered on for a few more years but the heart had gone out of it and in 1978 it finally closed down."

John told The Jewish Chronicle that it didn't end there, either. He soon moved on to work at Phillips auctioneers - but just weeks into the job, he was held hostage by one raider brandishing a shotgun, which was pressed against John's ear.

The gunman told him: "I'm going to blow your head off." John admitted to the publication: "It affected me badly at the time and still affects me."

It wasn't John's only encounter with stolen goods, either. The star had to call the police when he discovered an entire tin stuffed full of stolen jewellery that he'd been trying to find for a year. Opening up to The Arts Society, John explained: "When I was working at Phillips, around 1995, I went to Tunbridge Wells to value a box of jewellery inherited by [silversmith Harry George Murphy's] daughter, as he had died back in 1939.

"It was an incredible collection of unusual pieces, full of brilliant colours and technical virtuosity. I photographed the items for her, but about a year later I received the terrible news that she was the victim of a break-in and the box had been stolen.

"Another year passed. I was working in the London office when a woman came in asking to have some pieces valued, and she presented a biscuit tin full of all the stolen jewellery! We called the police and got everything returned."