A BASINGSTOKE woman who appeared on ITV’s new pawnbroking reality TV show was left shocked, when her diamond earrings and family watch sold for £155,000.

The new three-part ITV series, Million Pound Pawn, opens the door to the fast moving and often lucrative industry of pawn-broking, telling the story of people with incredible assets and the eye-watering stakes at play; for both the owners and pawnbrokers trying to close the deal and make a profit.

On Tuesday (February 23) night’s episode, Fran Sawyer from Beggarwood met Dan Hatfield, owner of Sheffield's London Road Jewellers & Pawnbrokers, because she wanted to sell her watch and earrings to help fund the ‘life-changing’ medical work she hopes to undertake to help her disabled son and others with similar needs.

Speaking to the Gazette before the show aired, the single mother-of-two explained that the Patek Philippe watch had been given to her by her uncle, who was from a gypsy background, and that she hoped by selling it she would be able to speed up the process of her next medical invention.

52-year-old Fran previously created a unique stoma dressing which is now being sold to hospitals across the world - but the process took her five years, around her full-time caring responsibilities for her son, 17.

Fran hoped the watch, which her uncle won in a poker game, along with a pair of earrings she inherited from her great-grandmother, would raise around £17,000.

As the show continued, the nerves got to her, and she feared the watch would prove to be a fake, and perhaps ‘only worth a tenner!’

However, watch expert Josh confirmed the product was genuine, adding: “You hardly ever see these out in the wild, they're usually in private collections for years and years.

“It's an incredibly desirable watch and it's worth a considerable sum.”

Later in the show, pawnbroker Dan told Fran that the model of the watch is “quite special because they've only made a few thousand of these”.

When he revealed he was prepared to pay £85,000 for the watch and £70,000 for the earrings, Fran insisted he was “messing about”, adding: “'You're going to make me cry. It's going to help so much because I've been so struggling for 16 years with my boy being ill. That would just be life changing for us. I just can't believe it.”

Fran is no stranger to reality TV, having previously appeared on several shows, including Channel 4’s popular First Dates.

“ITV is the hardest one to get into,” she said.

Summing up why she enjoys applying for TV shows, she added: “It keeps me away from being a carer all the time, it gives me a bit of fun. I am a big character, I think life is short and, if I want to do something, I do it.”

When asked what her favourite part of being part of the all-new Million Pound Pawn process was, Fran said: “I met a really good friend. The pawnbroker, Dan, is a friend for life. We connected instantly and I would say he is one of the nicest men I have ever met.”

Asked if she would treat herself with some of the earnings, Fran laughed and said she would enjoy a kebab and a few Stellas to celebrate.