Antiques Roadshow guest stunned as food-stained napkin given huge valuation

Antiques Roadshow host Fiona Bruce admitted she was 'blown away' by a guest's unusual napkin which had an incredible story behind it.

During the episode, filmed in Ebrington Square in Northern Ireland, a guest named Mike brought along a food-stained piece of cloth that featured a hand-drawn piece of artwork that depicted a boat on choppy waters and a lighthouse on top of a cliff.

It transpired the piece had been created by none other than legendary heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali, who scribbled it on a napkin he had used at Mike's restaurant back in 2003.

Explaining how he had met the sporting star, Mike recalled: "One night I got a phone call to my restaurant where I work for a table of eight people for Muhammad Ali... And Muhammad Ali’s wife asked me could if I cut up the steak for him because he couldn’t use his hands."

He continued: "So I said to our chef, 'Will you cut them up for Muhammad Ali, but put them back together nicely?'"

"So when I put it down in front of him, Muhammad Ali’s wife said to me 'I thought you were going to cut them up.' I said, 'They are.' And she was very impressed at the presentation."

According to Mike, the sportsman then asked if he could doodle on a napkin. He provided the star with a pen in the hopes he could keep the piece, which Muhammad personally addressed to Mike.

"I put the bill on the table and I said to his wife 'Can I take the napkin?'. So she said 'Of course you can have it. You’ve done such a wonderful job and we are very impressed.'" Mike recalled that she then turned to Muhammad and asked him to personalise the artwork, which he did.

Raj Bisram was the expert enlisted to give the unique piece a valuation, which even featured marks where the boxer had dabbed his mouth during his meal.

Raj estimated the item was worth between £6,000 and £8,000 pounds. He revealed that the doodle was actually something the boxer had sketched out several times and the first version of the image, titled The Guiding Light, was drawn in 1979.

Before the impressive estimation, Fiona caught up with Mike about the item and its story.

"Of all the things we might see today… That’s why I love this job. You never know what someone’s going to bring along. And this has blown me away," she admitted. "But wow! What a brilliant, brilliant thing. You lucky man."

The Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer