If the beret-adorned contestants seem like they can answer pretty much every question, it’s because long runs of unanswered ones are edited out.
“I’ll let you into a secret [about how] University Challenge is recorded,” host Jeremy Paxman told an audience at Henley Literary Festival.
Not satisfied with blowing University Challenge wide open, Paxman also criticised the BBC itself at the festival, taking aim at the £145.50 licence fee.
While Paxman suggested the cuts only happen every 10 episodes or so, the Telegraph claims contestants are unable to answer a string of questions around two to three times a recording.