Eggheads composite
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Meet the current Eggheads: Judith Keppel and Kevin Ashman’s impressive quiz careers

The cast are some of the greatest quiz players in Britain...

Jeremy Vine continues to host the popular BBC Two quiz Eggheads, but who are the current Eggheads?

And what are they famous for?

Eggheads sees a team of five quiz challengers pit their wits against the “greatest quiz players in Britain”.

Here’s everything you need to know about the series, which will be moving to Channel 5 later this year.

Eggheads cast
The quiz show is currently repeating on BBC Two, but who are the current Eggheads? (Credit: BBC Two)

Read more: Paul Sinha leads tributes as Eggheads star David Rainford dies

Who are the Eggheads? Judith Keppel

Judith Keppel, 78, has appeared on the show since it started in 2003.

She was the first British winner of £1,000,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Her historic win in 2000 transported her from “struggling” garden designer to TV celebrity.

WWTBAM host Chris Tarrant asked her the million pound question: “Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?”

Judith correctly answered Henry II.

Egghead Kevin Ashman

Kevin Ashman, 61, has also been on the show since the very first episode in 2003.

He is the eight-time winner of the British Quiz Championship and the winner of the third series of Fifteen to One in 1989.

He also won Mastermind in 1995 with an all-time record score.

Kevin also won the 1996 Brain of Britain, its three-yearly Brain of Brains and nine-yearly Top Brain in 1998.

Since joining Eggheads, the former civil servant has won six European Quizzing Championships and six World Quizzing Championships.

The brainbox is also Captain of the England quiz team and ranked the number one quizzer in the world.

Now THAT is impressive!

Kevin Ashman on Eggheads
Kevin Ashmen has been on the Eggheads panel since 2003 (Credit: BBC Two)

Read more: Eggheads star ARRESTED on suspicion of murder

Chris Hughes

Chris Hughes, 73, has sat on the Eggheads panel since 2003 until the present day.

He won £100 on The Sky’s the Limit in the 1970s, and triumphed on Top of the World in 1982, Mastermind and International Mastermind in 1983.

Since joining Eggheads, he won Brain of Britain in 2005.

The retired train driver is not to be confused with the Love Island contestant of the same name!

Egghead Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes is a retired train driver (Credit: BBC Two)

Barry Simmons

Barry Simmons won £64,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2005 and was a winning member of Masterteam in 2006 and a semi-finalist on Mastermind.

He joined Eggheads in 2008 after winning the first series of Are You an Egghead?

Barry, now 72, beat Shaun Wallace in the final, who later joined The Chase.

Barry won Brain of Britain in 2013, and he’s currently a member of the Scotland Quiz Team.

Pat Gibson

Pat Gibson, 59, joined the cast of Eggheads in 2009.

He won £1,000,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2004, Mastermind in 2005 and Brain of Britain in 2006.

He is a four-time winner of the British Quiz Championship, and a four-time winner of the World Quizzing Championships.

He took part in Are You an Egghead? twice, losing in the quarter-finals to Mark Kerr in the first series in 2008.

However, he won the second series in 2009 beating David Edwards in the final to join the Eggheads.

He also won Mastermind Champion of Champions in 2010.

He has amassed 21 international quizzing medals and was ranked the second strongest quizzer in the UK, behind Kevin Ashman.

Eggheads cast
Who are the Eggheads on the BBC Two quiz show? (Credit: BBC Two)

Lisa Thiel

Lisa Thiel, 41, has appeared on the Eggheads panel ever since 2014.

She’s a previous contestant on The Weakest Link in 2001 where she made the final but lost.

Jazz singer Lisa also appeared on The Chase in 2012, and was part of a winning team on the Egghead’s spinoff Revenge of the Egghead in 2014.

Steve Cooke

Steve Cooke, 50, joined Eggheads in 2016.

He won the men’s contest in Make Me an Egghead.

He is a member of Mensa who previously won £12,900 on The People Versus in 2001.

Eggheads cast
That’s a lot of brain cells in one room! (Credit: BBC Two)

Beth Webster

Beth is the winner of the women’s contest in Make Me an Egghead.

She’s active on the Quizzing Grand Prix Circuit in the United Kingdom, and in The Quiz League of London.

She was ranked as a “Sage” in the 2012 Order of Merit listings of the British Quiz Association.

Former Eggheads: Daphne Fowler

Daphne Fowler, now 82, appeared on the show from 2003 to 2014 and was the oldest member of the team.

The former secretary won many titles, including Fifteen to One (twice), Going for Gold and Brain of Britain.

As of 27 May 2014, Daphne retired from Eggheads, and was replaced by the returning CJ de Mooi.

CJ de Mooi on Eggheads (Credit: YouTube)
CJ de Mooi appeared as a panellist on Eggheads (Credit: YouTube)

Former Eggheads: CJ de Mooi

CJ de Mooi appeared on Eggheads from 2003 until 2012, and again from 2014 until 2016.

In December 2011, he announced he had left Eggheads permanently to pursue an acting career.

Dave Rainford replaced him.

Former model CJ later returned to the show replacing Daphne Fowler.

In 2016, De Mooi was accused of sexual assault but was subsequently cleared.

He stated that he had been dismissed from Eggheads and had relocated to South Africa.

In September 2016, he was arrested on suspicion of a murder allegedly committed in 1988, under a European Arrest Warrant issued in the Netherlands, regarding claims reported to have been made in his autobiography.

In October 2016, a judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court declined the extradition request and said a European arrest warrant should never have been issued.

The former Eggheads star said he was dying from AIDS in 2019, and faced being made homeless.

On his official Twitter account, he now describes himself as “an actor, athlete and activist”.

Former Eggheads: David Rainford

David Rainford took part in Eggheads between 2012 and 2018.

The Mancunion, also known by his nickname of Tremendous Knowledge Dave, was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in April 2005.

He walked away with £250,000.

Sadly, David passed away on March 7 2020, aged 51.

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Eggheads continues on BBC Two at 4.45pm on weekdays. A new series of Eggheads will start on C5 later this year.

Who is your favourite Egghead? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.


Helen Fear
TV Editor

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