Jeremy Vine is still fascinated by TV quizzes
Celebrity Puzzling presenter Jeremy Vine has revealed that he continues to be obsessed with TV quizzes despite hosting Eggheads for almost two decades.
Jeremy Vine is obsessed with TV quizzes.
The 60-year-old presenter is hosting the new 5 show Celebrity Puzzling, which has a format based on problem solving and lateral thinking, and has confessed that he will always watch a new quiz programme when it hits the small screen.
Jeremy, who has also presented Eggheads since 2008, told the Radio Times magazine: "I have a real interest in TV quizzes. There must be 1,000 episodes of Eggheads (he's presented around 1,200) and they'll still be showing them when I'm long dead. Whenever there's a new quiz on, I always watch it."
The BBC Radio 2 presenter appeared on the ITV programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? alongside his brother, the comedian Tim Vine, in 2007 but recalled how their hopes of winning big money were scuppered by a question about former US President's Dwight D. Eisenhower's middle name.
Vine said: "You always remember the question you were knocked out on. It was: 'What does the D in Dwight D Eisenhower stand for?' Which I think is quite a difficult question.
"One of the options was David, and another option was Donald. Tim said, 'I know this – it's Donald, Eisenhower was named after Donald Duck.' It was, of course, completely wrong... The D stands for David.
"Later, I asked Tim why he said that and he said, 'Because it was funny.'"
Jeremy's shows on both 5 and BBC Radio 2 feature lively debates, which the broadcaster puts down to a generational divide.
He explained: "I have a listener who rings up – he's 80 years old – and he says that the reason young people can't buy a house is because they spend all their time in Paris. Then a young person rings up and says, 'We're having experiences because we can't afford a house.'"
Jeremy must remain impartial as he works for the BBC but insists that it is a price he is willing to pay so he can do "the best job in the world".
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant said: "It's the best job in the world, doing Radio 2 and 5, and the price of the ticket is that I don't express my views.
"There's a cadre of presenters and you know what their views are on everything. But once you start to put your views on the table, you become much less interesting as a presenter. I'm there to facilitate."
