Many of us were disappointed when the Christmas episode of Celebrity Mastermind, in which Rye’s Antiques Roadshow glass expert Andy McConnell was to appear, was postponed, writes Jane Nunn. McConnell had chosen his friend Joe Cocker as his specialist subject – but Cocker died the day before the show was due to be screened on December 23.
The programme will now be screened on BBC1 on January 18 at 17.35pm. McConnell donated his appearance fee of £3,000 to Arrcc, the local charity that offers daily workshops, sports and activities to local physically and sensory impaired adults (see Roadshow Andy does it for Arrcc). He felt that choosing an aspect of glass as his specialist subject would be the “soft option”. The website for Glass Etc, the shop in Rye that McConnell runs with his wife Helen, is at “the centre of the glass universe“.