Jeremy Paxman stepping down from University Challenge after 28 years
Jeremy Paxman is stepping down from his role as host of University Challenge after 28 years, it’s been announced.
In a statement, he said: ‘I’ve had a blast hosting this wonderful series for nearly 29 years. 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.’
Having first started hosting the BBC quiz programme since 1994, Paxman’s final series will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer starting from Monday August 29.
The 72-year-old will continue to host until the summer of 2023, before he bids his final farewell.
A new presenter will then be announced this week.
In a statement, Kate Phillips, the BBC’s Director of Unscripted, said: ‘Since the BBC revived University Challenge in 1994 Jeremy has been at the front and centre of the show’s success and is without doubt one of the world’s finest, and most formidable quizmasters.
‘We are hugely grateful to Jeremy for his dedication to the programme for an incredible 28 years, he will be much missed by us all and the show’s millions of viewers.’
Peter Gwyn, Executive Producer of University Challenge, added: ‘Jeremy has been our presenter, colleague and friend for twenty-eight years, and everyone on the University Challenge production team will miss him greatly.
‘He’ll be sorely missed too by both our audience and by the generations of students who’ve relished the chance to pit themselves against him in more than a thousand matches.’
University Challenge was originally launched in the 1960s, when it was helmed by Bamber Gascoigne for over two decades.
In 1994, it was revived by the BBC, bringing Paxman is as the new quizmaster.
He became a presenter for Newsnight five years prior, having first joined the broadcaster’s graduate trainee programme in 1972.
In May last year, it was announced that Paxman had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, as he revealed that his symptoms were ‘mild’ and he was receiving ‘excellent treatment’.
‘I can confirm I have recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,’ he said in a statement released at the time.
He added that he planned on continuing to broadcast and write ‘for as long as they’ll have me’.
As well as presenting University Challenge, Paxman also hosted Newsnight until 2014, interviewing individuals including Boris Johnson, Tony Blair, Russell Brand and George Galloway on the programme.
The most recent team to win the title on University Challenge were Imperial College London, who secured their victory in April this year.
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