TWO colleagues are preparing to make their small-screen debut this month as contestants on the popular daytime TV show they watched together in their lunch break.

Jon Cain, 34, who lives in Hereford, and Rob Benson, 39, will be featured on BBC1 show Bargain Hunt on June 9.

The friends, who work together at Clarksons Research in Ledbury, will be shown attempting to find the best bargains possible alongside their antiques expert Paul Laidlaw.

Mr Benson, who lives in Ledbury with his wife Corinne and their two children Oliver and Eleanor, said: “We used to watch it at lunch in the gym. And I just thought, I'm 40 this year, I'm going to try and do something a bit different so let’s do some bargain hunting.”

The friends, who have known each other for 10 years, sent off the required paperwork believing they didn’t have a chance and were shocked when they got a call a week later asking them to take part in a phone interview.

“You never think it will happen to you and it did,” said Mr Benson. “It's one of the most viewed TV shows on daytime TV.

“We did a couple of test games, one of which involved looking at five items and putting them in an order based on their worth."

Mr Benson believes that the duo's little knowledge of antiques was appealing to producers.

"There was genuine surprise with us," he said.

Mr Benson and Mr Cain, who is a father-of-two, were filmed searching for their bargains at antiques shops in Leominster before selling them at an auction in Malvern.

“It was a lot of fun. We made quite a few friends out of it,” added Mr Benson. “It was just completely different – something I probably will never do again.”