A Surrey bus driver has confessed to cheating his way onto the television quiz show Countdown, and revealed he was subsequently banned from appearing on The Chase. James Belshaw, 46, admitted using an anagram solver and numbers solver during a phone audition for Countdown, which he described as his first online application for a TV show.
Speaking to Spin Genie, Belshaw said: 'They said to me, “Right, we’re going to play the game now, so play it honestly”. I’m not bad at Countdown but I thought I was better than I was. I had my keyboard, anagram solver and numbers solver on my computer. I’m going to say it, I did cheat.' He added that after being accepted, he nearly backed out upon watching an episode in his hotel room, but his wife encouraged him to proceed.
Belshaw, who has appeared on over a dozen UK game shows including Pointless, The Weakest Link, Tipping Point, and Lingo, also revealed he was barred from The Chase after failing to disclose a previous appearance on Pointless. 'I was cast on The Chase, I had a filming day but they phoned me up and said, James, were you on Pointless? And I hadn’t put it on my form,' he said. 'I said, “Is that the one where the really tall man sits down?” I don't know what's the big rivalry, but I was gone because of that.'
His first TV appearance was on Coach Trip in 2010, after which he applied for numerous shows. He attributed his success to applying for new programmes and having an interesting story, such as holding a Guinness World Record for the longest kiss with his wife. Despite the cheating admission, Belshaw has not faced any known repercussions from Countdown.
