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Amol Rajan to take over from Jeremy Paxman as University Challenge host

BBC Amol RajanBBC
Rajan will remain as one of the presenters of BBC Radio 4's Today programme

Amol Rajan will take over from Jeremy Paxman as the host of University Challenge, the BBC has announced.

The journalist and broadcaster, who is also one of the hosts of Radio 4's Today programme, will start presenting the BBC Two quiz show next autumn.

In a statement, he said: "Being asked to host my favourite TV programme is dream-come-true territory."

Rajan becomes only the third presenter in the show's 60-year history, following Paxman and Bamber Gascoigne.

Paxman announced earlier this week he was stepping down after 28 years. The 72-year-old revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Rajan's new job means he will step down as the BBC's media editor in the coming months.

"I have watched University Challenge obsessively for years, addicted to its high standards, glorious title music and inspirational contestants," he said.

"It's the best possible antidote to cynicism about young people, allowing millions of us to test our wits against the best minds of a new generation, and annoy and impress our families by barking answers from the sofa."

Jeremy Paxman on University Challenge
Paxman had fronted the student quiz show since it was revived by the BBC in 1994

Referring to the long-running show's previous hosts, he added: "I am very conscious that in the late, great Bamber, and that giant of British culture, Jeremy, I have vast shoes to fill.

"With his immense intellect, authority and respect from students and viewers alike, Jeremy hands over a format, and show, as strong as ever."

'Shameless intellectual ambition'

Gascoigne hosted University Challenge on ITV between 1962 and 1987, before the BBC revived it with Paxman in the hot seat in 1994.

Rajan will remain a co-host of the Today programme as well as continuing Amol Rajan Interviews.

In a further statement on Instagram, he wrote: "I can honestly say University Challenge is my favourite show. I love it. The music, the students, the format, the history, the shameless intellectual ambition. And I love being a quizmaster, as my mates can attest. So this feels massively humbling."

Paxman will film his final episodes this autumn, and they will be broadcast next summer.

"I've had a blast hosting this wonderful series for nearly 29 years," the former Newsnight presenter said in a statement on Tuesday.

"I've been lucky enough to work with an amazing team and to meet some of the swottier brains in the country. It gives me hope for the future."

Rajan appeared on the show as a contestant in a celebrity Christmas special in 2020. But his team from Downing College, part of Cambridge University, failed to make it through the first round, losing to Durham University by 90 points to 65.

Bobby Seagull, one of the show's most famous former contestants, was among those wishing Rajan well on Twitter.

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