The Mastermind chair? It’s still a hot seat... and dad would love it
IT is an iconic symbol of one of television’s best-loved – and most daunting – quiz shows.
But now the famous black leather Mastermind chair is being put to a very different use – by the family of its original host.
It has been revealed a local youth group run by Magnus Magnusson’s son-in-law uses the chair to ‘interrogate’ house guests.
The BBC gave Mr Magnusson the chair when he left in 1997 after 25 years at the helm.
His daughter, newsreader Sally Magnusson, inherited it when her father died in 2007.
It now takes pride of place at the home she shares with husband Norman Stone near Glasgow.
Miss Magnusson said: ‘My husband runs a youth club in the village. The youngsters come to the house and he has this session where people come and meet them.
‘It’s usually any person rash enough to visit us who finds themselves plonked in the Mastermind chair and interrogated by the kids about their life.
‘It is used usually for interrogation. My dad would absolutely love it. You can see where the armrests have been worn away by sweaty, anxious fingers.’
Icelandic-born journalist and broadcaster Mr Magnusson was the original host of Mastermind when it launched in 1972, and Miss Magnusson, 62, would be teased at school with his catchphrase: ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish.’
The chair was given to him when he left the programme in 1997, and passed on to his eldest daughter after his death ten years later.
And it seems Miss Magnusson’s five children are following in her and her father’s footsteps into the world of entertainment.
Jamie is a Doctor Who director, Siggy is an assistant movie director, Anna-Lisa has just returned from working in LA, Rossie runs an educational comic and Magnus is planning a career in video games.
Miss Magnusson added ‘I told them early on that I wanted a doctor, a lawyer, and an accountant – but not a one of them.’
‘It is used usually for interrogation’