Antiques Roadshow’s Fiona Bruce cheekily warns veteran ‘speak for yourself!’ after touching tribute

Fiona Bruce jokingly snapped back at a Falklands War veteran after a cheeky joke during an inspirational segment of Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow visited Alexandra Gardens in the heart of Cardiff for the latest episode which aired today, Sunday, January 12.

This instalment of the BBC series was a repeat of an episode which originally aired back on January 14, 2024, and featured Fiona Bruce meeting up with Falklands War veteran Simon Weston by a memorial to those lost in the conflict.

The Welsh Guardsman revealed most of the names on the memorial were friends from his platoon, before taking Fiona through two campaign medals he received during his service, the Northern Ireland and South Atlantic medals.

“They are there because I lost people, I lost friends,” he shared. “So, they’re reminders of sadness, really.”

When he was just 20 years old, Simon was seriously injured during an attack, suffering severe burns across half his body and losing over half his body weight over the subsequent weeks.

“I was blind for a week,” he said. “The medical staff were incredible but the people I remember were the civilians, the cleaners. They were really funny, and I’ve never met any of those people.”

“What, since?” Fiona asked, and Simon confirmed: “No, no. And it would be pleasant if I ever did again.”

The presenter then looked to the camera and encouraged viewers: “Well, come on! You’re on the Antiques Roadshow.

“So, if any of you are watching, we’d love to hear from you and reunite you with Simon, absolutely.”

“We’re all antiques, aren’t we?” Simon chuckled. “In that regard. Crikey.”

Fiona jokingly took offence to his cheeky comment, retorting: “Oi! Speak for yourself!”

She cracked a smile and Simon conceded: “Present company excluded!”

Fiona then revealed that Simon has been doing a lot of charitable work for people with burns and scars since his military service.

“I work with young people who have had problems in their lives,” he explained. “We’ve been working hard to develop treatments so that people who have scarring, it doesn’t become as obvious.”

Simon has been awarded an OBE and CBE for his charity work, which he admitted was “a big surprise, to be honest.

“Hugely flattering. None of those medals, whether they be the campaign or civilian honours, none of them have been achieved on my own.

“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done with other people and with the support of other people.”

Fiona applauded Simon’s modesty before thanking him for coming on the show. Elsewhere in the episode, other Welsh artefacts such as WWI-era photographs of arrivals at the Cardiff Docks and an autograph book featuring a signature from Tom Jones were uncovered.

Antiques Roadshow airs on BBC One and is available on iPlayer.