80s mastermind champ says no to fans

A popular Tokoroa Mastermind contender from the eighties is putting an end to rumours that she will be back on the new series.

The return of the iconic show on TV One has elevated Rosalyn Pittams back to celebrity status.

Pittams said she was constantly asked by locals if she would be returning to the small screen to compete.

‘‘I don’t think I can do better than I did [back then] and I’m a very competitive person and I wouldn’t want to go and make an idiot of myself,’’ she said.

‘‘A big part of me would really love to have another go but commonsense dictates I properly shouldn’t.’’

Working as the District Librarian 29-years ago Pittams was treated like a celebrity when she came third in 1987.

‘‘You spend your life looking for knowledge for other people and if you’ve got a good memory a lot of it sticks,’’ she said.

‘‘People were very happy about it.’’

It hadn’t dawned on her that she had won the first heat because she was concentrating so hard on the questions.

Three years later, in 1991, Pittams competed again came fifth in a controversial decision which the host said was wrong.

Peter Sinclair, who presented at the time, told her that if she hadn’t been so lady-like about it she would have come second.

It was her ‘‘freakishly good memory’’ that prompted her daughter to tell her to, ‘‘give it a go’’.

‘‘It was fairly scary. I was thinking shivers what have I done.

‘‘The first phase I was absolutely terrified. I honestly thought I’d me the first person to get to the chair and never utter a word.’’

The nerves came ‘‘right’’ and Pittams made it to the final three.

Nearly 30-years later the show must go on with Pittams happy to watch from the comfort of her armchair.

Sticking to tradition she drives her flatmate mad every Sunday night shouting the answers at the screen.

‘‘I still do fairly well. Peter Sinclair said I was one of those few contestants he could tell by my body language that I knew other people’s specialist subjects as well as my own.’’