A Stone student will be in the final of University Challenge on Monday 13th April alongside fellow students from Oxford’s Magdalen College.
Harry Gillow, who read Classics at Magdalen, will be hoping to lift the legendary University Challenge trophy with team-mates Chris Savory (Chemistry), Hugh Binnie (Chemistry) and Cameron Quinn (Philosophy and French) after they beat a team from St Peter’s College, Oxford, by 235 points to 120 in the first 2015 semi-final.
For Harry, whose family live in Lichfield Street, Stone, appearing on the legendary show has been an amazing experience.
Watched by around three million people – and with millions more seeing Harry during Channel 4’s Gogglebox show – it’s no wonder that he’s been recognised in the street and been asked to pose for selfies!
It’s been a long journey for Harry. The whole show was filmed in Manchester last year (Harry knows the result of the final, but couldn’t tell us the result, obviously) and, before filming even started, Harry first had to get on the most successful University Challenge team in the show’s history.
“I saw posters at Magdalen asking for people to apply for the show,” Harry said, “and I thought I’d give it a go. I always used to watch University Challenge with my grandma, I’ve been watching it for years, but I never thought I’d get on to the team.
“There were two rounds in the selection process – a written test and then more of a Challenge-type test. And when the team members had been selected, we then had to be interviewed by the show’s producers and sit another test with them before they chose the 32 teams who would be taking part in this year’s competition.”
The glare of the cameras when the competition began in earnest was initially tough for Harry.
“I used to shout out the answers when I was watching it on TV,” Harry said, “but when we had our first match, I was really nervous about buzzing, even if I was convinced that I knew the answer. It was really nerve-wracking. Luckily, I relaxed a lot more as we went through the rounds and got used to it.”
The fearsome show host Jeremy Paxman may have been one of the reasons for Harry’s initial nervousness! But Harry says: “He’s a lovely man. I think his fearsome persona is more of an act, really. Although I did have a heated discussion with him about politics, actually!”
Harry’s parents Elizabeth and Tim are obviously incredibly proud of their son’s achievement and have been in the audience cheering their son on. Harry’s younger brother Charles has found the experience a strange one, though! He says: “You normally only see strangers on University Challenge, so it’s an odd experience seeing your own brother on BBC2.”
Harry graduated last year from Magdalen College after his four-year Classics degree with a first. He’s been working in politics for a while and is now looking at getting his career up and running – hopefully with a University Challenge winners’ trophy!
Harry says: “It’s been great representing Stone on national TV. I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have recognised and stopped me. They often say something, which is nice of them. The whole thing has been a wonderful experience.”
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]The University Challenge final is on Monday 13th April at 8pm on BBC2[/box]
