Eggheads star Chris Hughes has passed away aged 77, the BBC show has confirmed. The quizzing expert joined the BBC Two show as a regular panellist back in 2003. During his quiz career, Chris won Mastermind, International Mastermind and Brain of Britain.
The show said in a statement: "It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Eggheads great Chris Hughes. Chris joined the show in 2003 and over the next 20 years gave us not only brilliant answers but very many laughs and happy memories. He will be hugely missed by all his Eggheads family.".
Chris has been an egghead since the show first began in 2003 and was still a cast member on the show before his death. The series first aired on BBC One back in 2003, before moving to BBC Two in 2005 and eventually Channel 5 in 2021. While competing on The Weakest Link, host Anne Robinson described the quizzer as "the best contestant we have had" on the show. Chris was ultimately voted out in the final elimination round without answering a single question incorrectly.
"I'm very disappointed to have fought my way through to the last three, never to have answered incorrectly, and then to be voted off because the other two daren't face me in the final proves that in this country today, and the world at large, mediocrity is a rule," he said after his exit.
Fans took to social media to pay tribute to the Eggheads star, with one writing: "Very sad news. I met him when we did the show back in 2015 and he was very affable. "I hope he's up there enjoying a pint with dear Dave Rainford," they added, referencing the Eggheads star who passed away in 2020.
Another wrote: "So sad to hear this news." A third penned: "A wonderful magnificent man. God bless you Chris.". The quiz show, hosted by Jeremy Vine, is still aired on Channel 5, however it hasn't aired since April last year. In May, Jeremy admitted that he hadn't filmed the quiz show for a year and feared that it had been cancelled.
"I haven't heard anything about Eggheads for a while now. I think I have done about 1200 shows - but whether we are doing any more I don't know. We last filmed an episode over a year ago," he told The Sun at the time. “It may well be we are doing it in 30 years' time, who knows, but no immediate plans for any more.".
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