University Challenge stars Monkman and Seagull get their own TV series
The former quiz rivals are going on a tour of Britain
University Challenge stars Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull are getting their own TV show: a travel series which will see them tour Britain looking at the nation's best technological achievements.
The four part series will air on BBC2 later this year.
The duo rose to prominence as rivals on University Challenge in 2017, when Monkman, captaining Wolfson College Cambridge, knocked out Seagull, leader of Emmanuel College Cambridge, in the semi-final. Despite enjoying a heated battle on the quiz show, the two became good friends and have since gone on to front Radio 4 show Monkman and Seagull’s Polymathic Adventure where they examined whether being highly intelligent is actually useful.
According to the BBC, the pair's new series will see them explore curiosities such as the science of deep-fried mars bars, and the world's smallest museum (which is in a phone booth, apparently).
"Curiosity is an approach to life," Monkman said. "The more you know, the more you realise you don't know. My admiration for British genius is one of the major factors that led me to study in the United Kingdom."
While Seagull added that their friendship was built upon the fact that they're both "driven by the curiosity about the world". He also confirmed that he had turned down a spot on Celebrity Big Brother in the months following his University Challenge run came to an end. He said he was "flattered" but that it wasn't the "right fit" at the time.
Shame, that.
