Eggheads quiz show is poached by Channel 5

Eggheads poached by Channel 5: BBC ditches 18-year-old quiz show but host Jeremy Vine reveals brainboxes will be back on rival channel as it tries win over older viewers

  • Jeremy Vine announced the move during his Channel 5 programme on Friday 
  • The programme began in 2003 and current host Jeremy Vine joined in 2008 
  • Prospective contestants encouraged to apply to take part during Vine’s show 

Eggheads is moving from the BBC to Channel 5 as the rival channel tries to win over older viewers.

The popular game show, which has been running since 2003, sees teams of contestants try to beat a panel of specialist quizzers in a test of their general knowledge.

Current host Jeremy Vine, who joined in the show 2008, announced the move during his own Channel 5 programme on Friday. 

Last summer, it emerged the BBC had stopped producing new episodes of the programme, with Mr Vine saying it had ‘fallen victim’ to the corporation’s ‘desire’ to appeal to 16 to 24-year-olds.  

Quiz show Eggheads, which sees teams of contestants try to beat a panel of specialist quizzers in a test of their general knowledge, is moving from the BBC to Channel 5

Quiz show Eggheads, which sees teams of contestants try to beat a panel of specialist quizzers in a test of their general knowledge, is moving from the BBC to Channel 5

Quiz show Eggheads, which sees teams of contestants try to beat a panel of specialist quizzers in a test of their general knowledge, is moving from the BBC to Channel 5

It will move to Channel 5 after 18 years at the BBC, with Vine remaining as host. 

According to sources the team on the programme had been told that the BBC was looking for ‘different quiz formats more suitable for younger people’. 

Vine told his viewers today: ‘The programme which I’ve presented for more than 10 years, Eggheads, one of the greatest quizzes in the history of British TV, is moving to Channel 5 later this year.’

Prospective contestants were also encouraged to apply to be on the programme during Vine’s show.

In a statement, Vine added: ‘I can’t wait to be reunited with the mighty Eggheads and see new teams try to take them on.

‘I’m sure fans of Eggheads will share in my delight that it has found a new home on Channel 5.’

Last March, popular Eggheads star Dave Rainford died of heart disease at the age of 51.   

Channel 5 commissioning editor Daniel Pearl said: ‘I’m delighted that Eggheads, one of the UK’s most loved quiz shows, has found a brand new home on Channel 5.

‘This is yet another step in the transformation of Channel 5 as it grows its audience rapidly.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘We sometimes have to make difficult decisions in order to grow new shows and we would like to thank the Eggheads and host Jeremy Vine for their time on the BBC and wish them well with their next chapter.’

Murder allegations, pub bans and tragedy: The life of the Eggheads 

Dave ‘Tremendous Knowledge’ Rainford: Last March, popular Eggheads star Dave Rainford died of heart disease at the age of 51.  

The brainbox had been a regular on the BBC tea time quiz show since 2012 after taking over from CJ de Mooi.  

Dubbed Dave ‘Tremendous Knowledge’ Rainford, he was famous for being banned from pub quiz machines in Manchester. 

The professional quizzer had landed a spot on the show after he won £250,000 on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2005. 

Dave was one of nine Eggheads alongside Kevin Ashman, Chris Hughes, Judith Keppel, Barry Simmons, Pat Gibson, David Rainford, Lisa Thiel, Steve Cooke and Beth Webster.

CJ de Mooi: De Mooi, real name Joseph Connagh, became a panellist on the BBC Two show Eggheads in 2003 after winning a series of game shows.

De Mooi has previously revealed he ran away from home at the age of 17 following an abusive childhood and became homeless in Rotherham and Sheffield.

From Amsterdam de Mooi moved to Cologne in Germany, where a chance meeting outside a gay bar led to the beginnings of his modelling career.

De Mooi adopted his surname when modelling, and he translates it as Dutch for ‘handsome’.

After five years he returned to Amsterdam and by 2000 he was applying to appear on television game and quiz shows.

He was a contestant on Pass the Buck and Fifteen to One, but it was The Weakest Link that led to him receiving national attention.

Despite consistently being the strongest player he was the third voted off and launched into a now infamous rant in his post-game interview.

In 2003 de Mooi received a phone call about a new concept quiz show called Eggheads, which features five quiz champions competing as a team against different challengers.

De Mooi sparked a flurry of headlines when his autobiography was published in 2015. In  it, he described being confronted by a knifeman whom he attacked and threw into one of Amsterdam’s famous canals when he was a penniless teenager in 1988. 

In May 2016, Dutch authorities said Mr Connagh was wanted for alleged ‘murder, manslaughter and assault’ and he was arrested at London Heathrow Airport. But the warrant was torn up at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in October 2016. 

Dutch authorities later dropped the extradition attempt – but de Mooi was left in serious financial trouble.  

One of the original quiz champions, in 2011 the star took a break to focus on his acting career before returning two years later. 

Two years ago, he told fans he was ‘dying from AIDS.’ He said he contracted HIV aged just 18 after being forced into prostitution while living on the streets ‘in a bid to stay alive’.

He has alleged that he was sacked from Eggheads in 2016 on the same day claims he sexually assaulted a man on a night out in Glasgow were dropped. 

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