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The reason University Challenge contestants always seem so clever

Here’s some good news if watching an episode of University Challenge leaves you feeling like you’ve got the IQ of an amoeba.

University Challenge
BBC

If you’ve ever watched the show aghast at how the contestants manage to rattle off answer after answer, there’s actually a sneaky reason for that – and it’s got nothing to do with their brain power.

The show’s host Jeremy Paxman used an appearance plugging his new book to lift the lid on a shocking fact about the filming of the show:

A lot of incorrect answers get edited out.

Yep, you read that right.

Jeremy Paxman
BBC

“I’ll let you into a secret [about how] University Challenge is recorded,” Paxo told an audience at Henley Literary Festival.

“If we get a run of questions, it doesn’t happen very often, say one show in seven or eight or 10 or something, you might get a run of unanswered starter questions, they all get edited out.”

How on earth can they justify this? Well, the 66-year-old former Newsnight presenter joked that it makes the show good value for license fee payers.

The BBC said: “If minor edits are made they always accurately and fairly represent each team’s performance.

“Viewers should not be in any doubt that University Challenge Contestants are the cream of the TV quiz crop.”

Jeremy Paxman
REX

Paxman also used his appearance at the Henley LiteraryFestival to take a swipe at the BBC license fee, arguing that it’s well past its sell-by date.

“[It’s an] antique mechanism,” he said. “It is not difficult to devise something in the digital age.

“It is clearly not feasible to continue indefinitely with a system of taxes on a particular item of household furniture, which is essentially what it is. We don’t say there is a tax on washing machines or fridge freezers or something, do we? I don’t think it can last.”

Yes, but you can’t watch the telly on a fridge freezer, can you Jeremy? Even a University Challenge contestant knows that.