David Harper has revealed he was warned by people in television to “quieten down” his Christian faith, but insisted he has no intention of doing so.
The Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip star, who recently became a born-again Christian, said his faith has transformed both his personal life and his work.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, Mr Harper said he now feels “braver” discussing what he believes, even if it risks affecting his television career.
“Well, certainly, I'm more free as a Christian, as an individual,” he said.
David Harper is a born-again Christian
|BBC
“And I think I'm braver in willingly, you know, opening up my thoughts.
“I think it may well cause me problems on TV. Some people, I know in television, have suggested that it could, that I need to maybe just quieten down my new Christian faith. Well, I'm not going to.”
The BBC star made clear he would rather lose television work than stay silent about Christianity.
He said: “I'm not going to do that. If it does negatively affect my TV, I'll willingly take that. It's okay.”
Mr Harper has been a beloved fixture on the BBC since 2005
|BBC
“I'd like to continue with my TV as a Christian presenter and antiques presenter, but if it does have a negative effect, and I have to choose between being on TV and earning my wages from TV, and having not talk about Christianity, I will take the Christianity and not earn the money from TV, if that makes sense.”
The beloved presenter said his conversion came after an 11-month investigation into Christianity, prompted by witnessing what he described as a remarkable transformation in his daughter Hetty.
He explained that she had experienced a period of severe depression before finding Christianity, which led him to begin researching the faith himself.
“I went on a very deeply personal 11-month investigation into Christianity. Is Christianity true?” he said.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The antiques expert has appeared on Antiques Road Trip, Bargain Hunt and Flog It! amongst others
|BBC
Mr Harper said he had previously explored other belief systems, including Buddhism and Stoic philosophy, while searching for meaning.
He added that material success had never brought lasting fulfilment.
“Buying a new car, get a bit of joy for about a day, and it would wear out. Make some money, joy for two days. It would wear out. Getting a job on TV. Great, but it wasn't fulfilling,” he said.
The antiques expert added that he initially approached Christianity through evidence, history and documentation, much as he would research antiques.
He said the turning point came when his academic interest became personal conviction.
“It hit me like a steam train, and I broke down,” he recalled.
“I realised, in that moment, that doctors couldn't help my daughter, but something fixed her. And that's something was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, literally, saved my daughter's life.”
Mr Harper said his faith has now reshaped his priorities.
Mr Harper said his faith has now re-shaped his priorities in life
|GETTY
“It has changed my life, and I've literally, I genuinely found out the purpose of meaning of life,” he said.
“The joy and the happiness that is free to anybody and everybody. You can't buy it, you can't bribe it. You can't get given it. It's free.”
Asked whether he believes there is an institutional bias against faith at the BBC, Mr Harper was careful not to make direct accusations.
“I don't know about that. I suppose this will be something that I will discover,” he said.
He added that most people he had spoken to in television had been “very warm and very interested” in his journey, but suggested broadcasters may be cautious about “overexposing somebody's personal views”.
Mr Harper said his faith would naturally influence the antiques and historical objects he is drawn to on screen.
“I suppose, naturally, I will be talking more about objects with a Christian connection,” he said.
He went on to argue that Christianity had shaped Britain and the wider West.
Mr Harper was warned against sharing his Christian views
|BBC
“Christianity is what built Western civilisation. Without it, we wouldn't have a Western civilisation. We wouldn't have the culture, the laws, the morals, the ethics,” he said.
“We wouldn't have anything that we take, actually for granted, a democracy, without that foundation of Christianity.”
Mr Harper has documented his conversion in his book The God Conundrum, which he said was written in a conversational style rather than as a sermon.
He said: “It's not preachy, it's not trying to make you into a Christian, it's just offering up questions, with answers, and questions that most of us, including myself, never thought there were answers for.”