Quiz show champ Tory MP to make TV comeback in Only Connect Christmas special

23 December 2023 , 18:46

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Aaron Bell beat the banker to win £25,000 in 2006

A Tory who gave up a lucrative career as a TV quiz show champion to become an MP will return to screens this Christmas, the Mirror understands.

Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Aaron Bell won big money during a prolific run of appearances in the 2000s. He reached the final of University Challenge in 2001, won the Krypton Factor in 2009 and Only Connect in 2010. And he was the first contestant to have an ‘all-blue round’ on Deal or No Deal in 2006, trousering the banker’s offer of £25,000 when his box was worth 50p. He bought his first house in Leigh, Staffordshire with the winnings.

And now, after more than a decade away from TV quizzing, he’s getting back in the game - on a Christmas special of fiendish BBC2 quiz Only Connect, hosted by Victoria Coren-Mitchell. He’ll appear on a “Politicians vs Activists” edition of the show, on a team alongside former Labour MP Bridget Prentice and Lib Dem Councillor Gareth Orbrey, on Thursday at 8pm.

Mr Bell told this newspaper: “It was great to get back in the Only Connect studios with Victoria and everyone else who helps make it such a great show. I loved recording the episode and being part of a tri-partisan team with Bridget & Gareth was really fitting for this season of goodwill!"

Aaron in an earlier appearance on Only Connect

In an interview with his local paper the Stoke Sentinel last year, Mr Bell said the trick to quizzing was having the confidence “to press the buzzer a split second before you’re absolutely certain".

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“Otherwise someone else will get in there first. You've got to press it when you only think you know - and trust your brain to get the answer to your lips within a couple of seconds."

From 2006 to 2019, when he was elected, Mr Bell's day job was as a trading performance analyst for online betting firm Bet365. And from 2003 to 2006 he worked as a development manager for Ladbrokes.

In January last year (2022) he caused a stir in the Conservative Party when he publicly criticised Boris Johnson over Partygate, asking him in Parliament: "Does the Prime Minister think I'm a fool?" He said at the time that he would not enter a quiz as a member of the public now he’s an MP.

But there’s one more show he’d like to try his hand at one day. “When I'm retired, I'd love to do Mastermind, but I'd need the time to go away and really nail down my specialist subject,” he said. "I might do English test cricket since 1981, but you really need to know your stuff on Mastermind or you'll end up getting embarrassed."

Mikey Smith