
Viewers of University Challenge have been so preoccupied by Jeremy Paxman’s holiday sweater that they have totally missed the show, and we can’t say that we blame them.
After having candidates such as Paul Gambaccini, Reeta Chakrabarti, Victoria Gill, and Sanchia Berg compete throughout the week, the Christmas specials came to a close on Friday with the grand final.
Team Oxford’s Elizabeth Kiss, Andrew Copson, Martin Edwards, and Martin O’Neill faced off against Team Hull’s Katharine Norbury, James Graham, Sian Reese-Williams, and Graeme Hall in the championship match.
However, Paxman’s adorably festive Christmas sweater was the star of the night.
‘Jeremy Paxman’s Christmas jumper is the finest thing I’ve seen on TV this Christmas!’ one person wrote.
Another penned: ‘Loving Jeremy’s Paxman’s Christmas jumper!!!’
‘Loving Jeremy Paxman’s festive jumper. He is a formidable and fantastic #UniversityChallenge host. Hope when he vacates his chair he’ll come back for the Christmas specials. Wishing him well in the New Year & in the clinical management of Parkinson’s.’ someone else wrote.
Since he began presenting the BBC show in 1994, Paxman has held the record for the longest tenure of any quizmaster on UK television.
The filming of the series has concluded, but the 72-year-old actor, who was given a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in the previous year, will continue to appear on our televisions until 2023.
After that, Amol Rajan, who is now the media editor for the BBC and a broadcaster on Radio 4’s Today programme, will take over for him.
In spite of the fact that he is leaving the programme, he has no plans to slow down and is already working on a number of projects that are relevant to the next phase of his life.
‘I plan to join a choir, to take a postgraduate degree in understanding Renaissance art and finally to finish the wine appreciation course that I began a year ago. I may even give drawing another bash.’
University Challenge’s latest series is still being broadcast on Mondays on BBC Two.