David Dickinson

For other people named David Dickinson, see David Dickinson (disambiguation).

David Dickinson
Dickinson filming Dickinson's Real Deal in 2010
Born	David Gulesserian (1941-08-16) 16 August 1941 Cheadle Heath, Stockport, Cheshire, England
Occupations	Broadcaster antiques expert
Years active	1995–present
Employers	BBC (1998–2005) ITV (2006–)
Television	The Antiques Show (1998–2000) Bargain Hunt (2000–2004) The David Dickinson Show (2003) Dickinson's Real Deal (2006–present) Name Your Price (2017)
Spouse	Lorne Lesley ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	2
Website	www.david-dickinson.net

David Dickinson (né Gulesserian; 16 August 1941) is an English antiques dealer and television presenter. Between 2000 and 2004, Dickinson hosted the BBC One antiques show Bargain Hunt, where he was succeeded by Tim Wonnacott. Dickinson left the BBC in 2005, and since 2006, he has hosted the ITV daytime show Dickinson's Real Deal.

In April 2003, Dickinson hosted his own daytime chat show series, The David Dickinson Show and in 2017, he presented David Dickinson's Name Your Price for ITV.

Early life

Dickinson was born on 16 August 1941 in Cheadle Heath, Stockport, Cheshire, the son of Eugenie Gulesserian (born 1919 in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire), a daughter of Hrant Gulesserian, an Armenian textile merchant who had moved from Constantinople to Manchester in 1904. Dickinson was placed for adoption as an infant and never again met his biological mother, although he corresponded with her in later life when she was living in Jersey. Dickinson's biological father is unknown. David was subsequently adopted by the Dickinsons, a local couple. Mr Dickinson died when David was 12, and as his mother worked hard to keep the family together, David was partly brought up by his adoptive paternal grandmother, Sarah.

Dickinson began an apprenticeship at an aircraft factory when he was 14, but quickly left to work in the cloth trade in central Manchester. At 19, Dickinson served three years of a four-year prison sentence for mail-order fraud. The majority of his sentence was spent at Strangeways in Manchester.

Television career

Dickinson came to public attention as an antiques expert on This Morning, and BBC Two's The Antiques Show. His career break as a television celebrity came from presenting BBC One's daytime Bargain Hunt. He went on to present the BBC1 reality show, Dealing With Dickinson (2005), Dickinson moved to ITV in 2006, to present a new daytime antiques programme, Dickinson's Real Deal.

In 2010, he presented the celebrity variety show The David Dickinson Show. In 2017, he presented ITV's David Dickinson's Name Your Price.

Catchphrases

• "Real bobby-dazzler" (particularly excellent item). Dickinson's biography is entitled What a Bobby Dazzler.
• "Cheap as chips" (bargain)
• "Always look for quality pieces" (wise advise)
• "A bit of a duffer" (lacks value)
• "A real Bobby Dazzler" (very good value)

Guest appearances

In 2002, Dickinson joined Team B led by Ulrika Jonsson with Johnny Vegas, as a guest on Shooting Stars.

In 2004, Dickinson was one of several celebrities to have their portraits painted in the BBC One television series Star Portraits with Rolf Harris, and, also in 2004, he appeared in the first series of Strictly Come Dancing.

In 2005, Dickinson appeared on the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where he first announced that he had used heroin in his younger years. He also presented information slots for viewers on how to bid on satellite shopping channel Bid TV. He appeared in one episode of the ITV drama Heartbeat, playing an antiques dealer.

Dickinson explored his family background in an episode of the third series of the BBC genealogical documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? (2006).

In March 2014, Dickinson appeared in the eleventh series of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. The duo disguised themselves with prosthetics and fake accents to dupe Dickinson into believing there was a live argument and subsequent car crash on the set of his new 'fake' show Long Lost Treasures. During the aftermath of the wind up and following the big reveal from Ant & Dec, Dickinson said "you two have done me up like a kipper!"

He played the Emperor in the third episode of The Keith & Paddy Picture Show ("Return of the Jedi").

Personal life

Dickinson met his wife, Lorne Lesley, a cabaret performer, in a nightclub in the 1960s, and they married in 1968. As a wedding gift Lorne gave David an antique regency mourning ring, set with a rose cut diamond. Lorne is of African, Welsh and Scottish ancestry; she hails from Tiger Bay, Cardiff. The couple live in the village of Prestbury in Cheshire. They have two grown-up children, and four grandchildren, Aim'ee and Lauren, Miles and Finley. Finley appeared alongside Dickinson on the second series of Big Star's Little Star. Miles, who is now an entrepreneur, featured on Series 20 of BBC's Dragons' Den, becoming the youngest contestant to successfully secure investment from a Dragon.

External links

• Official David Dickinson website
• David Dickinson at IMDb
• "Official "Bargain Hunt" website". Archived from the original on 5 June 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2006.
• Bargain Hunt BBC America (Archived)
• Who Do You Think You Are? - David Dickinson BBC History, 17 February 2011