Celebrities and antiques experts visited the de Havilland Aircraft Museum when BBC’s Celebrity Antiques Road Trip chose to record their latest show under the wings of a wartime aeroplane in Hertfordshire.

TV presenter Trisha Goddard and GP Dr Amir Khan, from ITV’s Good Morning Britain show, joined antiques experts Tim Medhurst and Izzie Balmer at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in London Colney last Tuesday.

Herts Advertiser: Celebrities arrived at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in this classic 1970 Alfa Romeo GTV 1750, welcomed by the antiques experts.Celebrities arrived at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in this classic 1970 Alfa Romeo GTV 1750, welcomed by the antiques experts. (Image: Garry Lakin (C)2020)

They were welcomed by museum chairman Alan Brackley, and after seeing some of the iconic aircraft on display and under restoration there, their verdict was unanimous: “It’s just great.”

Sitting in sumptuous reclining leather seats from a BAe 146 'Whisper Jet' airliner, they faced five cameras for nearly two hours of recording.

Herts Advertiser: Tim Medhurst, Trisha Goddard, Dr Amir Khan and Izzie Balmer watch their iPads to see their purchases being auctioned. Behind them is one of the de Havilland Aircraft Museum's three Mosquito aircraft.Tim Medhurst, Trisha Goddard, Dr Amir Khan and Izzie Balmer watch their iPads to see their purchases being auctioned. Behind them is one of the de Havilland Aircraft Museum's three Mosquito aircraft. (Image: Garry Lakin (C)2020)

“Normally our experts and celebrities watch their auctions live from within auction houses, but due to COVID-19 restrictions we have been sending them to beautiful locations across the country to watch the auctions on iPads,” explained an Antiques Road Trip spokesman, “and the museum was a fantastic setting for this episode.”

Afterwards, the celebs were able to sit in the pilot seat of one of three Mosquitos on display at the Salisbury Hall site.

They also saw inside the sole surviving original DH 106 Comet, the world’s first jet airliner, which was designed and built at the de Havilland factory in Hatfield.

This brought back memories for Trisha, who exclaimed: “When I started work, I became a trolley-dolly (air hostess) for an airline.”

Dr Khan’s verdict was “They are beautiful aeroplanes”, while Izzie Balmer declared: "It is very small in the cockpit, cosy and snug."

Izzie also posted pictures on Instagram, with the words: "Honoured to have sat in a WWII De Havilland Mosquito. Thank you @dehavillandaircraft"

Antiques expert and TV presenter Tim Medhurst enthused: “It is an amazing museum and I will be coming to see it properly.”

The museum's Mr Brackley said: “We are getting more and more requests from television and video companies to come to our museum because they know it is an excellent venue for their programmes, and we were delighted to welcome the Antiques Road Trip.”

The programme is expected to be screened on BBC in September.


The aviation museum dedicated to Hatfield's de Havilland company is at Salisbury Hall, London Colney, signposted just off Junction 22 of the M25. Details on how to find it are on the museum's website at www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk