The hotly-anticipated special episode of Bargain Hunt in which Pulp take on Happy Mondays has aired – seeing Bez cheat and hand the game over to Jarvis Cocker. See footage from the episode below.
Aired as part of BBC Music Day today, Cocker and Pulp’s Candida Doyle battled Bez and Rowetta Idah from Happy Mondaysto make the most profit from antiques.
Anticipation was high after it emerged that Cocker refused to wear the usual Bargain Hunt blue fleece and polo shirt uniform, and that the ending of the episode had to be re-shot after Happy Mondays broke the rules.
The Mondays seemed to have won with a profit of £8 from sales of their “vintage rustic novelty mirror” in the shape of a horse collar, biscuit tin and a mid-century record player. However, a member of the Bargain Hunt team soon spotted that one of the main bidders on the lots was Bez’s girlfriend – resulting in their disqualification.
“It was a genuine error,” said Bez. “My girlfriend thought she was helping out.”
Doyle added: “I’m speechless.”
"Since that glorious moment at the auction, we have discovered an IRREGULARITY..!" ??
We are completely gagged by this shocking #BBCMusicDay Bargain Hunt plot twist!
CCing the red team to explain themselves: @Happy_Mondays & @Rowetta ?? pic.twitter.com/5fjzSuwmUa
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) September 28, 2018
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Filmed at Kent County Showground back in July, he show saw both bands given £300 and the help of experts to buy three items and sell them off for as much profit as possible. Pulp purchased vintage plates, a Russian painting of a “semi-nudist camp somewhere”, and a vintage gramophone that came with a copy of their seminal ‘Different Class’ on vinyl.
The £95 painting used most of their budget, and overall the band lost money after the auction.
Watch the full episode on iPlayer here, and check out a selection of highlights below.
What do you think about this rather unique painting that Jarvis Cocker took a shine to..? ??#BBCMusicDay @BBCBargainHunt pic.twitter.com/2NFwFAz5xD
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) September 28, 2018
"In my opinion a lot of it was junk…" – Bez ??#BBCMusicDay @BBCBargainHunt pic.twitter.com/RAFFzTjknz
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) September 28, 2018
An entire market FULL of antiques, and @Happy_Mondays' Bez finds the maracas ?#BBCMusicDay @BBCBargainHunt pic.twitter.com/VkivjVQEU8
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) September 28, 2018
"We formed the band at school as I was bored in an economic lesson.." ??
Our #BBCMusicDay @BBCBargainHunt special blue team: Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and Candida Doyle! ?? pic.twitter.com/SAPdFXJDCJ
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) September 28, 2018
Percussionist, dancer and top-notch vocals meet our #BBCMusicDay @BBCBargainHunt special red team: it's @Happy_Mondays' Bez and @Rowetta! ?? pic.twitter.com/EZKFcu4gI5
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) September 28, 2018
Viewers took to Twitter to react to the bizarre proceedings:
— daytime snaps (@daytimesnaps) September 28, 2018
Dunno what’s more embarrassing. Bez getting himself disqualified from Bargain Hunt. Or Jarvis Cocker thinking he’s too cool to wear the tops the Bargain Hunt teams have to wear. The massive loser. https://t.co/gEpr8Any19
— Bry Fawkes ??? (@patto1878) September 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/gbrewinx/status/1045648859240833024
https://twitter.com/simon_warner/status/1045648664281124864
Best Bargain Hunt ever. https://t.co/GIiNdaeLQ0
— Kathy Robertson (@KathPawley) September 28, 2018
Just caught the end of Bargain Hunt with Pulp & the Happy Mondays. That could be the best bit of telly this year
— John Isherwood (@johnisherwood) September 28, 2018
JUSTICE FOR JARVIS!!!#BargainHunt
— Paul Schofield (@schofey27) September 28, 2018
@Rowetta Bez admitting that “most stuff is junk” and then cheating on Bargain Hunt along with a good feature on @Rockfieldstudio made the programme watchable for the first time ever!
— Justin Jones (@justin771924) September 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/Grab68/status/1045646062499844097
Meanwhile, fans are awaiting the return of Jarvis Cocker after touring to launch his new project ‘JARV‘ earlier this year.
Speaking to NME back in 2015 about the chances of the band returning for more new material and live shows from Pulp, Cocker said: “We’re very cloak and dagger about that, well, it isn’t cloak and dagger, we just don’t know! We’re not being mysterious, we’re just not very together.”