Forgetting Jeremy Paxman’s name, who was sitting opposite him, was a bad start. And it got worse.
Your heart would have to go out to Jonas Van Essen. The Swede won the World Memory Championships at the weekend and he was brought on to the BBC last night to show off his skills.
But rather than the perhaps more cosy confines of The One Show couch, they stuck the 23-year-old on Newsnight, and asked him to recite the credits at the end of the flagship current affairs show.
They left Jonas alone with presenter Jeremy Paxman and he fixed him with a steely stare he usually reserves for politicians.
Poor old Jonas couldn’t remember Paxman’s surname, the first name on the credits, for a very long time and as he continued to stumble, Paxman lost a bit of patience with him.
It ended in good natured fashion, but we reckon the BBC won’t try this stunt again…
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