Antiques Roadshow's Fiona Bruce 'blown away' by food-stained napkin worth thousands

Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce was left stunned by a guest's extraordinary napkin which was given a four-figure valuation.

In Northern Ireland's Ebrington Square, a man named Mike shared the story of his stained and sketched cloth with a seascape scene—crafted by boxing icon Muhammad Ali during his visit to Mike's restaurant in 2003.

Mike recounted the memorable evening: "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 proceeded to tell how the chef carefully pre-cut Ali's steak so well that the diners couldn't tell the difference. He recalled: "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."

Later, Ali asked if he could doodle on a napkin, with Mike eagerly providing a pen in the hopes he could keep the sketch.

"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

That unique piece of memorabilia, stained with spots from where the iconic boxer had touched his lips during dinner, was brought before expert Raj Bisram for appraisal, reports the Express.

Raj valued the treasured find at an astonishing £6,000 to £8,000, pointing out this wasn't a one-off sketch but actually part of a series Muhammad Ali had created. The boxer first drew the image, titled The Guiding Light, back in 1979.

Prior to the big reveal of its value, Fiona Bruce caught up with Mike to delve into the story behind the artefact.

In awe of the discovery, Fiona said: "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," adding: "But wow! What a brilliant, brilliant thing. You lucky man."

The Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer