A contestant on the quiz show The Weakest Link said today he was amazed when Anne Robinson told him he was the most stupid person she had ever met before he had answered a single question. Barry Bessant, of Rogiet near Newport in South Wales, was told by Ms Robinson during a break in filming: "You're quite honestly the most stupid person I have ever met. Are you intelligent enough to be on the show?."
Mr Bessant said the insult came just after Robinson had recorded the opening sequence at the London studio and a fault meant they had to take a technical break.
The 40-year-old, who is technical manager at Bristol's Queen Elizabeth Hospital Theatre, asked the presenter why they recorded the opening again for each show.
"Obviously they do because there are different contestants, but when it was the break everyone was standing around in silence and I just said the first thing that came into my head," he said.
Mr Bessant, who has worked as a cameraman, said he just laughed when Robinson told him he was stupid but he said everyone around him was shocked.
"I think that's all part of the experience, if you go there thinking it is going to be any different you are in for a rude awakening," he added.
"It's like being a masochist because you want her to be nasty to you to see if you cope with it, but I think some people were a bit shocked." he continued.
Mr Bessant said before he went on the show he thought Ms Robinson had to focus a lot to be the character she is on television.
"I think if you were an actress you could slip in and out of the role and in my opinion Anne couldn't," he said.
Mr Bessant, who got voted out in the second round after he guessed wrongly that the Queen did not hold a driving licence, said that despite Ms Robinson's comment he still had a good time on the show, which was screened last night.
He has previously also been on Countdown, where he was knocked out in the first round.
A BBC spokesman said: "Once the recording of the show has started we have to keep up the tension of the quiz."
