The Happy Mondays were disqualified from a celebrity special of ‘Bargain Hunt’ after the band’s dancer Bez broke the show’s rules when his girlfriend was caught bidding on items to inflate their price. 

Friday’s BBC’s Music Day special of the antiques show featured Bez and Happy Mondays singer Rowetta Idah competing against Jarvis Cocker and Candida Doyle from Pulp.

As usual, the teams were given an hour to select three items from an antiques fair, with £300 at their disposal, with the aim of the game being to make the most money on the items at auction.

Jarvis spent most Pulp’s budget on a Russian painting that he described as a “semi-nudist camp somewhere,” which ultimately left the group in minus numbers. The band also took their Different Class album and a vintage gramophone to auction, but both also failed to attract any interest. 

Happy Mondays made a final profit of £8 after buying an old novelty mirror, a biscuit tin and a record player.

However, they were disqualified when a member of the show’s production crew noticed Bez’s girlfriend was the winning bidder of two of their lots.

Due to being violation of the show’s rules, the victory was subsequently handed to Pulp, despite them being in deficit.

Bez was then made to pay the £8 profit his team made out of his own pocket 

“It was a genuine error,” he insisted. “My girlfriend thought she was helping out.”

Absolute scenes. 

‘Bargain Hunt’ airs weekdays at 12.15pm on BBC One.