BBC quiz show panelist: I think I killed a man

A panelist on a popular UK quiz show has claimed he may have killed a man who tried to mug him while he lived on the streets two decades ago.

CJ De Mooi, one of the five regular panellists on the BBC's Eggheads, said he punched a man who approached him with a knife, then threw him into a canal in Amsterdam in 1988.

In an extract from his autobiography, he wrote: "He caught me on the wrong day and I just snapped."

The 45-year-old former rent boy added: "I fully suspect I killed him. I've no idea what happened to him."

He said: "This is the one incident of my life I do regret. I was in a phone box and this old guy, obviously a massive drug user, came up behind me with a knife in his hand.

"He told me to turn around, open my bag and give him whatever was inside.

"It was the only outburst of violence I've ever done. That's one of the main reasons why I absolutely abhor all violence."

It is reported that police in the city are now investigating the incident.

De Mooi, a former president of the English Chess Federation, also described how he grew up in a violent, racist and homophobic household in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, before running away in 1987.

In his late teens he became a prostitute in London and then moved to Amsterdam where he found himself homeless and penniless.

He was eventually spotted by a model scout and found a successful career which turned his life around.

Having appeared on and won a series of gameshows, he became a panellist on the popular BBC Two show in 2003.

In 2011, de Mooi got embroiled in a row at the British Chess Championships when he claimed he was barred from presenting the prizes because he was wearing a T-shirt promoting the gay rights organisation, Stonewall.

De Mooi later offered his resignation to the ECF, which was rejected.