Former Egghead ‘dying’ of Aids after three-year extradition fight
A FORMER BBC quiz show star has said that he is “dying” of Aids, as he claimed that three years of legal battles had taken a toll on his health.
CJ de Mooi, a former panellist on Eggheads, the cult quiz show that pits the public against experts, said he had been living with the virus for 30 years but feared he “may not have many left” because of his deteriorating condition.
A message posted on Mr de Mooi’s Twitter account yesterday read: “I’ve been living with Aids for 30 years but the agony of the last three years means I may not have many left. I’m out- wardly healthy, still running and am staying positive I can get better.
“Thank you all for your love and if I can do anything to help any of you, please just ask.”
Earlier this year, a fundraising page was set up to support Mr de Mooi, whose real name is Joseph Connagh, as a friend claimed he was “bankrupt, extremely ill and in imminent danger of losing his house”. His Twitter account contains a link to the Gofundme page, which aims to raise £15,000. At the time of writing, the total was at £3,832.
In a video posted online, Mr de Mooi said his life and career were “pretty much ruined”, adding he had not worked a day in more than three years, with little hope of his situation improving. He said: “I’ve done nothing wrong, committed no crime, no offence, nothing, but I’m the one being treated like a criminal.”
The 49-year-old, who lives with his husband of three years Andrew Doran in Caldicot, Monmouthshire, was declared bankrupt last year.
Mr de Mooi had faced spiralling legal fees while fighting extradition to the Netherlands over claims that he murdered a homeless man in Amsterdam in 1988. The charges were later dropped by the British courts.
Mr de Mooi, who was a regular on the BBC Two quiz show for more than a decade, allegedly claimed he punched a knife-wielding robber and then threw his body in a canal, while working as a rent boy in the city.
Attempts to extradite him from Britain were blocked when a judge described the Dutch case as “dodgy”.
During his 13-year stint on the show Mr de Mooi also became head of the English Chess Federation, the game’s governing body in England.
Mr de Mooi, who is originally from Rotherham, has described how he ran away from home at the age of 17 after an abusive childhood and became homeless.