An accountant working for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) who left University before appearing on the final of popular competition show University Challenge has caused the programme to disqualify his team.
Sam Kay, who works full time for PwC in Reading, left Corpus Christi College, Oxford, before the filming of the final because funding for an intended PhD fell through.
Corpus Christi beat Manchester University by 275 to 190 points in the final of the competition, hosted by Jeremy Paxman, which saw 5.3 million people tune in thanks to publicity surrounding the genius of Corpus Christi captain Gail Trimble.
But the trophy has now been handed over to Manchester.
Captain of the Manchester team, Matthew Yeo, said that he was saddened the final ended this way: "As far as [fellow team members] Simon, Henry, Reuben and I are concerned the final was a great experience and we believe Corpus Christi College were outstanding opponents."
It has since been revealed that several other former winners of the competition fielded contestants who were also not eligible and the BBC has called for the rules to be tightened.
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