Eggheads tragedies - quizzer's sudden death to 'suspected murder' and bankruptcy

BBC and Channel 5 quiz show Eggheads proved to be enough of a draw for viewers that two years after its launch in 2003, it was shifted to a primetime spot that it managed to hold onto until 2020. Finally shelved for good in 2023, the show - hosted by Jeremy Vine - sparked three spin-offs and a celebrity version, with almost 2000 episodes released.

But over the course of its run, the cast and crew have faced various personal tragedies - and we've sadly lost some of the most iconic quizzers. Express.co.uk takes a look back at the tragic moments marring the game show's long history.

Tragic deaths

One of Britain's leading quizzers and a popular Egghead, Chris Hughes sadly died in January 2025 at the age of 77. First appearing on The Weakest Link in 2001, he was branded "the best contestant we have had" by Anne Robinson, and would go on to appear on Eggheads for 20 years.

A statement from the show at the time said: "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."

No cause of death was given publicly.

Sadly Chris isn't the only star to have lost his life. Dave Rainford's death was confirmed in 2020 by host Jeremy, who said: "I'm very sad to hear that one of the Eggheads has died.

"Dave 'Tremendous Knowledge' Rainford, famous for being banned from pub quiz machines in Manchester, was the best company after a recording: always fun and sociable. I never saw him angry or ungenerous, not once. RIP."

Dave was in his early 50s and a regular on the show before he had to step down due to illness. He had originally scooped £250,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2015, before going on to become a regular Egghead.

End of life confession

Eggheads favourite CJ de Mooi - real name Joseph Connagh - was first diagnosed with HIV in the late 80s, but in 2019 he claimed he "didn't expect to live long" and was "dying of AIDS".

He wrote: "I've been living with AIDS for 30 years but the agony of the last three years means I may not have many left. I'm outwardly healthy, still running and am staying positive I can get better.

"Thank you all for your love and if I can do anything to help any of you, please just ask."

He says he contracted HIV when he was 18 and forced into sex work while living on the streets.

The quizzer set up a GoFundMe to raise money towards his living costs, which claimed he was "bankrupt, extremely ill and in imminent danger of losing his house". In 2018 he had been legally declared bankrupt after lengthy legal proceedings in relation to an arrest for murder.

Arrest controversy

CJ wrote in his 2015 autobiography that in 1988 he had punched a man who was attempting to mug him, and threw the assailant into a canal in Amsterdam. CJ wrote: "I fully suspect I killed him. I've no idea what happened to him."

In 2016 he was arrested at Heathrow Airport in connection with the alleged incident, after a European Arrest Warrant was issued in the Netherlands. However, no UK arrest warrant was ever issued and a judge denied the extradition request - meaning he faced no further action.

His lawyer Chris Stevens said at the time: "It was a shock to him and his husband when he came to Heathrow to be pulled aside by security." No information was offered on whether a body was ever recovered from the canal, and no named victim was on the arrest warrant.

De Mooi said he would "continue to co-operate with the Dutch authorities" after being accused of manslaughter, murder, assault and battery, but the arrest warrant was later withdrawn.

Death hoax

Game show champion Daphne Fowler was subjected to a sick death hoax in 2020, when a neighbour came to ask her husband if she had died.

Daphne told the Daily Express: "One of my neighbours, Bob, rang the doorbell. Pete, my husband, answered to be told one of my other neighbours was upset to read on the internet I had died, and was it true?

"Bob was most relieved when I appeared to prove it was untrue - but it has been very upsetting, as you wonder what sort of weird person does this?

"I'm not on social media, preferring to protect my family's privacy, but even then, whilst on Eggheads, fake 'Daphnes' appeared on Facebook and Twitter claiming to be me and writing all kind of nonsense about my daily life."