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‘Mastermind’ Drama As Winner Accused Of Giving ‘Wrong’ Answer

Deborah Cicurel

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‘Mastermind’ Drama As Winner Accused Of Giving ‘Wrong’ Answer

Featured Image Credit: BBC

The winner of Mastermind 2019 has been forced to defend herself against claims she was crowned as the champion after giving the "wrong" answer.

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Judith Lewis, 59, won the BBC quiz show fair and square, but was quickly accused by fans of saying the wrong word.

The question she was asked by host John Humphrys was: "What long-tailed rodent was adopted as the symbol of the seventh-armoured division who fought in North Africa in the Second World War and were known as the 'Desert Rats'?"

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Judith, an NHS psychiatrist, gave the correct answer, "jerboa", but viewers at home quickly took to social media to say that they thought Judith had said the very similar-sounding rodent "gerbil" instead. Not only do the two animals sound similar, but they even look alike too. Confusing question, much?

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Judith finished on 28 points, one more than her closest rival, Ian Orriss, in the show, which was filmed in November.

Despite being accused of giving the wrong answer, Judith defended herself to the Sun, saying she was even asked to spell "jerboa" at the time.

"I know a jerboa is different from a gerbil, but it was the last question," she said. "What I said obviously sounded not unlike 'gerbil'. What I'd said was 'jerbo'. I now know it should be pronounced 'jer-bo-a', but I didn't know that at the time."

Judith added that the technical crew discussed it and went back to listen to her pronunciation again, and were eventually happen to accept her answer.

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She would have won even if she had given the incorrect answer anyway, as it would have been a tie but she would still have been the contestant with the fewest passes.

We've listened to the video quite a few times now, and we think she definitely said "jerboa"...

Topics: TV News, TV Entertainment

Deborah Cicurel
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