University Challenge leaves viewers in stitches as contestant snubs teammate with ‘savage’ blow

UNIVERSITY Challenge contestants are often clued up on the most weird and wonderful facts yet one student struggled to remember a crucial snippet - about his teammate.

This week's edition of BBC show saw Warwick battle it out against Imperial College London in the semi-finals.

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With a place in the final of the BBC Two series up for grabs, tensions were understandably high.

Yet a huge blunder cropped up on the side of the Midlands university when contestant Rout forgot teammate Burrell's surname when referring to him to answer a question.

Host Jeremy Paxman posed the question: "To the nearest full week, how long is one million seconds?"

Warwick contestant Braid swiftly answered: "Two,", which Jeremy confirmed as correct before issuing the icy quip: "What a pointless thing to know."

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The correct answer saw Warwick privy to a series of bonus questions with Rout nominating his team for ones he didn't know the answer to.

BBC show stalwart Jeremy said: "Formally hunted for its dark fur, which member of the weasel family gives its name to the heraldic tincture representing the colour black?"

Burrell swiftly interjected: "Ermine is not black, sable is black," as team captain Rout asked: "Am I OK to nominate you?"

Burrell said: "Yes, sure," before Rout quipped: "What’s your surname?"

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Those at home were unsure if the student's remark was genuine, or simply tongue in cheek.

One took to Twitter to remark: "What's your surname? Classic lol moment on #UniversityChallenge tonight."

Another posted: "That is the funniest thing we have EVER seen on #UniversityChallenge."

A show fan then guessed: "Some people think that Rout genuinely forgot his teammate's name like it wasn't obviously a joke #UniversityChallenge."

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Another then surmised: "Of course the #UniversityChallenge team whose captain forgets his own team-mate's name is Warwick's, of course it had to be."

Previously, viewers of the high-brow quiz show went wild for a man they deemed to be the "most handsome" contestant ever.

Meanwhile things on the Icelandic version seem more intense, with one contestant smashing glass and throwing a podium after his team lost.