FIONA Bruce didn’t have time to be nervous about taking over as host of The Antiques Roadshow.
The BBC News at Ten presenter had just filmed her 12th Roadshow when I spoke to her earlier this month.
“It’s like travel with a sense of anticipation, of arriving, and having a good time when I get there,” she told me.
The new BBC1 series starts on Sunday September 7 and contains plenty of surprises.
Show one features Fiona at Bolton Abbey in North Yorkshire, which was actually the sixth programme she filmed.
Having taken over from Michael Aspel, her first Roadshow was at Chester Cathedral and will be seen later in the run.

“I was just filming constantly for eight hours and I didn’t get a moment to think about, ‘Am I nervous? Is this alright? How am I doing?’ It just didn’t happen.
“And then it was the end and that was the first show done.
“So it all passed in a bit of a blur.”
Mother of two young children, Fiona added: “I took a decision when I had my children to stop going on the road, having been a reporter on the road for 10 years.
“So this is the first time I’ve really gone back and done it.
“When I had a current affairs show I used to travel quite a bit, but not as regularly as this.
“But when I’m doing a show, I’m only away for a night. So I have two very long days.
“I love doing live television because of the unexpected.
“The Antiques Roadshow is not live but you do see the unexpected, so it’s a complete joy from that point of view.”
There’ll be more from Fiona in an MEN feature next month.