Mastermind 2025 winner and runner-up become couple after meeting on the show
Iconic BBC quiz show Mastermind may be known as a battle of brains, but this year it also became an affair of the heart.
The nail-biting finale took place in November but was broadcast for the first time on Monday (19th May) on BBC Two, concluding the show’s 52nd series.
It saw Stratford contestant Claire Reynolds, 42, beaten by just one point in the dying seconds.
It would be understandable for Claire, who uses her maths skills to work as an actuary with NFU Mutual, to perhaps feel resentful of victor John Robinson, also 42 and a teacher from Sutton Coldfield. But the two discovered they had a lot in common, and began dating.
Forgiving Claire is nothing if not gracious, despite the one point continuing to rankle.
“It will always kind of be in the back of my mind because there were a few questions where I knew the answer, but because I was trying to answer quickly, the wrong thing came out,” she told the Herald. “So that will always be there, but I don’t mind, he was a very good quizzer.”
Claire added: “And if you told me when I’d applied that: A, that I’d get on; B, that I’d get to the semi-final; and C, that I’d get to the final, I would not have believed you at all. So coming second is beyond anything I expected.”
It was after the show was filmed that the couple’s relationship began to flourish just before Christmas.
“The show is filmed in Belfast and we were both flying back to Birmingham and we were on a flight together,” John told the Herald. “After we filmed the final, we had some time to kill at the airport. So we had a few drinks together and then got the plane back together and stayed in touch.”
Confessing that things had deepened since then, John continued: “Although we started as friends it’s more than that now, to be honest.
“It did generally just start with the two of us just going out and having a drink together over a pop quiz. We happened to be single. And then naturally one thing led to another, and we became a couple.”
Now the Mastermind powerhouses like to quiz together.
“We’ve teamed up on a few occasions to do pop quizzes and stuff together,” explained John. “So we’ve gone from being rivals on the show to working together as a team. Although I think I’m probably more competitive than Clare is.”
In fact, John is something of a quiz superstar, and previously won Who Wants to be a Millionaire – scooping £500,000 in 2019.
Was it perhaps John’s competitive streak kicking in that saw him scoop the win in the last seconds of the show?
Claire had scored 12 points and no passes on her specialist round on mathematician Emmy Noether, and a sensational 17 on general knowledge. Whereas John scored 12 and one wrong with no passes on the Empire State Building, leaving him needing more than 17 points in the general knowledge round to secure the win.
Recalling the final, John said: “I needed to beat Claire’s score of 29, but really you can’t think about that, you just have to focus on the questions really. By the time I got to the end, I had no idea if I had beaten her, lost or drawn – there’s no running score in the studio.
“It was only when presenter Clive Myrie said congratulations, you’ve done it, you’ve scored 30 points, that I finally realised.”
Did you offer your commiserations to Claire?
“I did, I think the first thing I said to her was, ‘I feel really bad, because you did so well in the general knowledge, you deserved to win it’. Obviously, I was delighted for myself, but I also felt really bad!”
Adopted Stratfordian Claire is a regular on the local quiz scene.
She told the Herald: “I’m originally from Birmingham but came to Stratford in 2018.
“I’ve always been a quizzer, and am part of the To Quiz Or Not To Quiz team and we regularly meet on a Monday night at The Bell, Shottery – which is always busy and a tough quiz with stiff competition.
“All my life I’ve done pub quizzes and always watched quiz shows on the TV. I still don’t really know what possessed me, but at the start of 2024 I decided to apply for Mastermind – the only thing I’ve ever applied for.”
After acing the online quiz and a video audition, and more cunning questions, Claire made her first appearance last August. She actually came second but had a high score as a runner up and made it through the semis, which she won, and then on to the final – where she was at least lucky in love.
Claire says her strengths are literature and geography, with food and drink and some sport being her weaker subjects. She says it takes her about two months swotting up to learn a specialist subject – which has to be pre-approved by the Mastermind team.
When not quizzing or working, she is a stalwart of the local community. Claire also keeps herself busy as a director of Stratford Parkrun and also volunteering for the Stratford Literary Festival. Meanwhile John’s win on Millionaire meant he could go part-time – teaching English to secondary school students.
Will Claire perhaps follow in his footsteps and monetise her quizzing skills on a mega-money quiz show allowing her to take life a bit easier?
“There’s nothing in the pipeline, but maybe I will once I’ve had a chance to get over this one,” she laughed.
