Humphrys started now he’s finished
Veteran broadcaster John Humphrys has revealed that he very nearly never started as the host on Mastermind but now he has decided he is finished.
The 77-year-old has called it a day as question master on the popular BBC2 show and will present it for the last time in March after an 18-year run.
But he initially turned down the job as he thought he was being asked to appear on a celebrity version of the show. He said: “I had assumed they wanted me to be a contender and nothing could have persuaded me to sit in that black chair. Not then, not now, not ever.”
Mastermind is best known for its black chair and the catchphrase “I’ve started so I’ll finish” which was coined by the original presenter Magnus Magnusson.
But Humphrys, also a former presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme, said the intimidating atmosphere can freeze the brightest of brains. He said: “There really is something about that black chair that turns even the most confident and clever into quivering wrecks.”
Humphrys, who was the main news reader for the Nine O’clock News from 1981 to 1987, will have presented more than 750 episodes of Mastermind when he hands over the reins, and has advised his successor to stick with the tried and tested format. He added: “I wish my successor well but I’m not sure I envy them, whoever they may be. What are the odds on the first female? Mastermind is one of those programmes you tinker with at your peril. Believe me, it’s not just the contestants who are in the spotlight.”