CJ De Mooi really is an egghead

25 November 2008

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Connagh-Joseph "C.J." de Mooi, is a professional quizzer and is the ‘bad boy’ team member on the BBC show Eggheads. As filming for the tenth series gets underway, I caught up with the man we love to hate to find out about his specialist subjects, his modelling career, and most excitingly, mouthing off to Anne Robinson!

Hey CJ, how are you?

I’m just having all the fun in the world having a drink in Selfridges.

How’s filming going for the latest series of Eggheads?

Well the last block went pretty quickly and for the first time I had a decent result for myself and did pretty well and got up to my own standard. Usually in the past I start off well and then have a disaster later on but I did quite well this time.

I believe there is a funny story surrounding how you got onto the show… care to share?

Well I’d been a contestant on a few shows and I got more notice for being willing to be forthright with my opinions than for my general knowledge! I was on The Weakest Link and in that interview when you get voted off people usually say; “oh I’ve had a lovely day and I want so-and-so to win… thanks for having me.”

I was a little less subtle and said; “It’s pretty obvious they’re all idiots, they’re all off my Christmas list, I hope they never win another penny and I hope them, their loved ones and all their pets die horribly in freak yachting accidents.”

Unsurprisingly that got me noticed and they invited me back for a Weakest Link Bad Losers Christmas Special which I managed to win!

Yay! At least you won something in the end!

After that Anne Robinson said in the Radio Times saying how much she hated me and I wear that as a badge of honour. And after that lots of shows invited me on as a contestant as they thought I would be rude and make good TV!

So do you enjoy playing the bad guy?

Fortunately I’ve got very thick skin and I love playing the character and being the one people love to hate and being nasty and being a piece of work. When Eggheads started I was a lot nastier but they cut a lot of it out now and I think they’re trying to make me look nicer!

When it started I wasn’t a very good quizzer and I was getting so many questions wrong but now that I’ve been working hard for four years I can get most of them right I think they’re trying to change my personality and I don’t like it… I want to come over as the Simon Cowell of the quiz world!

So when you finished University you embarked on a modelling career; did you think you’d get further with beauty rather than brains?

I finished university and decided to go travelling. I wanted to go to Germany for five days so I booked a return rail ticket and I’d been there three days when I met up with a guy in Dusseldorf who owned a modelling agency, and he asked me if I wanted a modelling job.

I thought it would be good for a laugh even though I absolutely hated the way I looked and I still now can’t watch myself on TV or see myself on photos but the plastic surgery isn’t too far away!

Oh no CJ, we love you, we think you’re pretty!

Haha, well he offered me this job and I ended up staying with him for four and a half years and it was wonderful and then when I finished there I moved to Amsterdam and just enjoyed myself. I did quite well in beauty and went as far as I could but with brains I can still keep going and I don’t have to rely on my ageing, withering looks!

I mean I’m sitting here and I just bought a load of shopping and I still have enough room in the bags under my eyes to carry it all!