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DISASTERMIND
BBC under fire after furious viewers claim Mastermind champion won with incorrect answer
THE BBC was under fire amid claims the new Mastermind champion won with a wrong answer.
Judith Lewis, 59, apparently said the mascot of the Army’s Desert Rats was a gerbil rather than a jerboa.
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Viewers hit out after she won by a point.
One said: “My Desert Rat father will be turning in his grave.”
In fact, the 7th Armoured Division’s insignia depicts a jerboa, a desert-dwelling rodent found in North Africa.
The “gaffe” meant the NHS psychiatrist, 59, won the BBC2 show with 28 points — just one more than runner-up Ian Orriss.
Viewers laid in to host John Humphrys, 75, on social media for failing to spot an incorrect answer.
'MASSIVE IGNORAMUS'
And professional lip-reader Tina Lannin, who studied the footage on a 56in telly, told The Sun: “I can just see her tongue move inside her mouth for the ‘L’, so I’m pretty sure she said gerbil.”
Actor Barnaby Edwards tweeted: “Thrilling final of Mastermind as that massive ignoramus John Humphrys erroneously declares someone the winner because he doesn’t know a gerbil is a different animal from a jerboa.”
Mick Fortune wrote of Humphrys: “Giving away the Mastermind final (my Desert Rat father will be turning in his grave) is unforgivable. Time to retire I think.”
Neil Oakes raged: “Gerbils and jerboas not the same. She's won with a wrong answer!”
The final was filmed in November but only shown on Friday.
Asking the final question as the “time up” buzzer sounded, Humphrys asked: “What long-tailed rodent was adopted as the symbol of the 7th Armoured Division who fought in North Africa in the Second World War and were known as the Desert Rats?”
Judith — whose specialist subject had been war-era books by Olivia Manning — then gave the controversial answer.
Judith, of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leics, said her answer was scrutinised on set and she was even asked to spell it out — though that footage was cut.
She said: “I know a jerboa is different from a gerbil, but it was the last question.
I now know it should be pronounced ‘jer-bo-a’, but I didn’t know that at the time.
Judith Lewis
“I could hear the bleep going, and I could hear my voice drop because I knew this was the last syllable I was going to say.
“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.
“There was discussion among the technical crew, they went back and listened to it again, and in the end they were happy to accept it.”
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Judith stressed she would still have won in the event of a tie as the contestant with the fewest passes.
She did so on one question to Ian’s two.
A spokeswoman for BBC Studios, which produces the quiz, said proper checks had taken place during the recording and Judith’s fellow contestants were satisfied with her answer.
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Gerbil facts
THE gerbil is the mascot for Quaghog Police Force in TV’s Family Guy.
- Commonly kept as pets in cages.
- Can run up to four mph.
- They can live up to four years.
- Gerbils store their food in their cheeks.
- Once known as desert rats.
- They grow between 6 and 7ins long.
Jerboa facts
THE jerboa is the mascot for the 7th Armoured Brigade — the Desert Rats.
- They live in hot deserts.
- Can run at 15 mph.
- They live for six years.
- Do NOT store food in their cheeks.
- Dubbed kangaroo rats because they hop.
- Grow up to 4ins long.
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