University Challenge host Jeremy Paxman, has stepped down after an incredible 28 years presenting the BBC show.
The 72-year-old Brit has presented the educational quiz staple since 1994, and is set to film his last episode in the autumn - with his final series airing on BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer from Monday 29 August until next summer.
Announcing his departure today, Jeremy gushed over his 'amazing team' while insisting that he holds great hopes for the future.
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The Mirror reports that he penned: “I’ve had a blast hosting this wonderful series for nearly 29 years. I've been lucky enough to work with an amazing team and to meet some of the swottier brains in the country. It gives me hope for the future.”
Addressing Jeremy's departure from the long-running show, BBC’s Director of Unscripted, Kate Phillips, said: “Since the BBC revived University Challenge in 1994 Jeremy has been at the front and centre of the show’s success and is without doubt one of the world’s finest, and most formidable quizmasters.
"We are hugely grateful to Jeremy for his dedication to the programme for an incredible 28 years, he will be much missed by us all and the show’s millions of viewers.”
Peter Gwyn, executive producer of University Challenge, added: "Jeremy has been our presenter, colleague and friend for twenty-eight years, and everyone on the University Challenge production team will miss him greatly. He'll be sorely missed too by both our audience and by the generations of students who've relished the chance to pit themselves against him in more than a thousand matches."
Jeremy has publicly been battling Parkinson's disease through recent years, after revealing his diagnosis in May 2021. He spoke of how his symptoms are 'currently mild' and that he has been receiving 'excellent treatment' for the condition.
In a statement to the PA news agency, he said: "I can confirm I have recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. I am receiving excellent treatment and my symptoms are currently mild. I plan to continue broadcasting and writing for as long as they'll have me and have written about my diagnosis in more detail for the June issue of the marvellous Saga Magazine.
"I will not be making any further comment."
Parkinson's disease is a condition that affects the brain. Symptoms include tremors, slow movements and stiffness.
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