The journalist and broadcaster Amol Rajan has been announced as the new host of University Challenge, taking over from Jeremy Paxman.
The presenter will take up the role in autumn 2023, with Paxman to have one final season asking the questions on the quizshow.
Rajan, 39, will combine the role with his other jobs presenting episodes of Radio 4’s Today programme and his own television interview series. He has became ubiquitous across the BBC in recent years, having also hosted episodes of The One Show and acted as a stand-in host for both Zoë Ball and Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 shows. When he takes up the University Challenge job he will be stepping down as BBC media editor, a post he has held for six years.
Before joining the BBC, Rajan was the final editor of the print edition of the Independent, having been appointed to the role aged 29 in 2013 by the owner, Evgeny Lebedev. Rajan had previously worked for Lebedev as a media adviser.
His appointment to the University Challenge job has attracted some controversy around the hiring process. When it was announced this week that Paxman would be stepping down, Samira Ahmed, a fellow BBC presenter, publicly stated that she was unhappy with the application system.
Ahmed, who previously won an unequal pay claim against the BBC, said she had approached the production team about the job, having worked on the show as a stand-by presenter for the past year.
“I approached University Challenge myself months ago … I’ve loved working with the fab team who seem to love me and just narrated a UC [University Challenge] documentary that’s going out on BBC Two. But no one from the BBC has spoken to me yet about taking over. I’ve always been happy to go through an honest fair process and be judged on my merits. I still am.”
Rajan said he was delighted to become only the third host in the show’s 60-year history, following Paxman and the recently deceased Bamber Gascogine.
He said: “Being asked to host my favourite TV programme is dream-come-true territory. I have watched University Challenge obsessively for years, addicted to its high standards, glorious title music, and inspirational contestants. 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.
“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.
“I won’t stop thinking today about my late, beloved Dad, whose devotion to education brought him to England, whose love of knowledge I imbibed as a kid, and whose belief in the noble challenge of university so shaped my life. I’ll devote my first ”starter for 10” to him – and to the millions of quiz fiends who, like me, love those rare occasions when they know the answer before the students do.”
