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Antiques Roadshow expert Lennox Cato opens up on ‘depressing’ racist experiences: ‘He’s going to pinch something!’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
‘It still happens today.’
Lennox Cato has opened up on experiencing racism in the industry (Picture: BBC)
Antiques Roadshow expert Lennox Cato has recalled the racism he faced as a young man getting into the business, and says it still happens today.
On Sunday’s episode of Antiques Roadshow, presenter Fiona Bruce invited Lennox to tell his story on how he became interested in antiques.
She said it was ‘rare to see a person of colour’ in the antiques industry even in 2022, and even more so when Lennox started out in the 1970s.
The expert, who was adopted, explained how he grew up in a family of antique dealers and became interested in it from a very young age.
He admitted, however, that it was ‘difficult.’
‘If I went into a shop, especially in an area where they hadn’t seen a Black person, especially a young Black guy, walking in looking at things.
He says it still happens today Lennox Cato (Picture: BBC)
‘You could see it in their face – “He’s going to pinch something. He’s going to pinch something!”‘
‘And I would point at something and say “How much is that?” and I could sense it.
‘I can sense it now, it still happens,’ he revealed. ‘I get followed when going to certain shops.’
Fiona suggested this ‘must be depressing, especially after all this time’ to which Lennox agreed that it was.
‘But then you prove a point,’ he said. ‘You say “How much is that? Okay, I’ll have that. And you buy it. And they go “Oh!”
‘It was humbling. It wasn’t easy,’ he admitted.
The expert says it is ‘humbling’ and admits it ‘wasn’t easy’ (Picture: BBC)
‘But life isn’t easy. And I think the way you conduct yourself and wanting to be ambitious and do things, people pay off.’
Fans watching from home were moved by Lennox’s story, with one person suggesting the show should have done more to allow him to share his experience.
The Twitter user wrote: ‘Lennox talking about his experiences, and how he got to where he is, and the struggle to be accepted in his field needs more than a moment on the #antiquesroadshow.
In a separate tweet, they added that hearing him ‘talking about his experiences is a sobering reminder, of how much work there is still be to done.’
‘It needs an actual show, a full episode. And he’s a lovely man who knows his stuff.’
‘Lennox is a lovely guy,’ another said, while more admitted they found his story to be ‘very moving.’
The antiques dealer has been a regular on the BBC series since 2004, using his expertise to determine the origins and worth of a huge range of items.
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Specialising in furniture and decorative items from the Georgian and Regency periods, Lennox has been in the industry for decades.
The Brighton-based expert opened his first antiques shop at 16, after leaving school to pursue his passion.
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