"Eggheads": Britain's Best Quiz Team

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Possibly the best known Egghead going into the programme, Judith Keppel was widely recognised for her outstanding performance on a popular quiz show three years before "Eggheads" began. To which quiz show does this question refer?

Answer: "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

Judith became famous for being the first British winner of the million pounds, bagging the prize by knowing that King Henry II was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine.

On "Eggheads" Judith shows her quizzing strength in rounds such as history and Art & Books.
She often is subject to presenter Dermot Marnaghan's friendly digs about her "millions".

2. Holder of quiz titles such as "Mastermind", "International Mastermind" and "Brain of Britain", Chris Hughes often provides much of the entertainment with his impersonations and songs. In which topic does he excel, often giving lengthy rants about it?

Answer: Trains

Chris used to work as a train driver and is now retired. His specialist subject taking him to his 1983 "International Mastermind" title was British steam locomotives.

We viewers are not the only ones to be graced by Mr. Hughes' angelic voice as one of his hobbies is karaoke, with Meatloaf as a personal favourite of his.

3. As contestants watch previous shows they start to notice some of the Eggheads' weaker subjects. Chris and Judith are often picked on sport and CJ on history. This helps increase the slim chances of a victory over the Eggheads. Which subject has recently come to be known as Kevin's "chink in the armour"?

Answer: Food & Drink

This potential weak spot may be explained by the fact that Kevin does not possess an oven!

As well as Kevin having a weak spot in Food & Drink, CJ also seems to dread this category as he is a tee totaler and a vegetarian. The group in general seems to struggle with questions on the topic, answering incorrectly twice on questions about Japanese cuisine at vital points of the game.

4. CJ de Mooi can be seen as a slow starter in "Eggheads", losing several head-to-heads and admittedly not enjoying the first few shows. However, his performances massively improved as the series progressed, justifying his position in the team. His self-confidence and "arrogance" are some of his best known characteristics. This is reflected by his name, which means what?

Answer: The beautiful one

CJ worked as a model for 5 years before becoming a professional quizzer.

He is known for his tantrums on "Eggheads" as well as other shows, including the "Weakest Link" which featured his post elimination interview on a "worst losers" show.

CJ's colourful personality compliments his numerous achievements including being the winner on shows such as "100%", "15 to 1" and "Beat the Nation" as well as a former Mensa chess champion.

5. The "Glamorous Granny" Daphne is certainly a force to be reckoned with. She is a strong all-rounder and has much quiz experience, appearing on several game shows such as "Going for Gold" and "15 to 1". This may help to explain her uncanny ability to do what?

Answer: Answer almost all of her "guesses" correctly

Before delivering the answer to a blind guess, Daphne always apologises to the team, but she rarely lets them down.

On one of her several "15 to 1" appearances, Daphne famously scored 432, the joint second highest score ever obtained on the show.

Although one of the strongest quizzers in the country Daphne has lost several head-to heads (as have all the Eggheads).
At least one of the head-to-heads Daphne lost was Entertainment, which was later split into Music and Film & Television.

There is no official Egghead team captain, however Kevin is often regarded as the unofficial team captain.

6. Three times World Quiz Champion Kevin Ashman is widely regarded as the best quiz player in Britain, if not the world! He is considered the toughest player to beat in most rounds in Eggheads. One of his many accolades is holding the highest score ever TV's "Mastermind". In which specialist subject did he obtain this score?

Answer: The life of Martin Luther King

The combined score of Kevin's specialist round and his general round was 41.

Other titles of Kevin's include 4 times European Quiz Champion, "Brain of Britain", "Brain of Brains" and "Top Brain". He also worked as a question setter for Brain of Britain under the pen-name "Jorkins".

He is recognised for his strength in all categories in "Eggheads" (even Food & Drink which only appears weak in comparison to other subjects). However, Kevin's favourite subject is also his most successful. This is History. In the history of "Eggheads" not only has Kevin never lost a head-to-head in History, he has never got a single question wrong in the category!

7. Which UK "Big Brother" contestant, well known for referring to East Anglia as "abroad", has appeared on an episode of "Eggheads"?

Answer: Jade Goody

Jade Goody was a contestant in "Big Brother" 3, coming 4th.

Although all of her team-mates were eliminated in this episode of "Eggheads", Jade answered all three of her questions in the final round correctly before being knocked out in the sudden death round.

Jade Goody remained in the public eye long after her appearance in "Big Brother" and was the first "Big Brother" contestant to earn �1 million after the show. Jade sadly passed away in March 2009 from cervical cancer.

8. Presenter Dermot Murnaghan often tries to pick the brains of the Eggheads. In doing so he has discovered certain "quiz techniques" the Eggheads use when they do not know the answer. These include choosing a particular answer due to it "usually" being correct. Which of these has not been named as one of these answers by the Eggheads?

Answer: Stephen King

If you are asked which ocean a particular island is in you say Pacific!
If you are asked what type of animal "x" is you say antelope!
If you are asked what type of food "x" is you say cheese!

On the 500th episode of Eggheads CJ was presented with a question which he unfortunately did not know the answer to. He was also unable to apply the old "quizzer technique" as the options were "pacific", "cheese" and "antelope".

9. The Eggheads are a formidable team, often shown in the final round themed General Knowledge. However, occasionally a team of contestants come along who give the Eggheads a run for their money, winning all the head-to-heads and thus only having to face one Egghead. Despite outnumbering the Eggheads 5 to 1 they are still extremely difficult to beat. Which of these Eggheads has not won a final round by themselves?

Answer: Chris

Kevin was the first to achieve this, followed by Barry then Daphne.

The first time this happened, Kevin capitalised on the situation as the contestants failed to answer their final question correctly, not knowing that in Norse mythology Sleipnir was the eight-legged horse which belonged to Odin.

10. Barry Simmons, the "sixth Egghead", is also an experienced quizzer, appearing on shows such as "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", "Brain of Britain" and "Mastermind", surviving to the latter stages of all three. Which show allowed Barry to become the 6th Egghead?

Answer: Are You an Egghead?

The series began with 32 contestants who made it past the audition process and were then subject to an elimination style play.

Barry won the final round against Shaun Wallace, winner of "Mastermind" 2004, denying other accomplished quizzers such as Pat Gibson, Mark Kerr and Diane Halligan (all of whom, along with Kevin Ashman, reached the final of "QU12", a quiz competition organised by quiz enthusiast Steve Kidd) from the title.

Barry may be able to attribute some of his quiz knowledge to the fact that he works as a researcher for "Any Question Answered". Barry himself has admitted he seems to know a lot of the more obscure questions in the pool, and is more likely to struggle with the "easier" questions, if any.

Source: Author doublemm

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

"Arguably the most formidable quiz team in the country", the question is: can you beat this quiz?

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>