{{Short description|English professional quizzer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Kevin Ashman | image = KevinAshman-EQC2011.JPG | caption = Kevin Ashman at the European Quizzing Championship 2011 in Bruges, Belgium | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1959|11|2}} | birth_place = Winchester, Hampshire, England | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Quiz player | known_for = * ''Eggheads panellist'' * ''Are You an Egghead? panellist'' * ''Make Me an Egghead panellist'' * ''Mastermind Champion'' * ''Brain of Britain Champion'' * ''British Quiz Champion'' * ''European Quiz Champion'' * ''World Quiz Champion'' }}
'''Kevin Clifford Ashman'''<ref name="eggheads7feb2019">{{cite episode|series=Eggheads|title=Series 20, Episode 53|date=7 February 2019|publisher=BBC2}}</ref> (born 2 November 1959)<ref>[http://www.quizplayers.com/w/QP:Kevin_Ashman QuizPlayers.com – Kevin Ashman] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910125201/http://www.quizplayers.com/w/QP%3AKevin_Ashman |date=10 September 2006 }}</ref> is an English quiz player. He is considered one of the greatest quizzers in the world,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/32167b0e-03e4-11e5-a70f-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/32167b0e-03e4-11e5-a70f-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=Quizzing with Kevin Ashman |author=Spencer Brown|website=Financial Times|location=London|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref> has been a professional quizzer since 2002 and he appeared on ''Eggheads'' from 2003 until 2023 and was the only Egghead to appear in every series of the show. He has won most of the top-level quiz tournaments in which he has taken part, among them several World and European Championships.<ref>[http://www.iqa.be International Quizzing Association, results WQC and EQC 2004–2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120145821/http://www.iqa.be/ |date=20 January 2017 }},</ref>
==Early life== Ashman was born in Winchester, Hampshire, He attended St Bede's Primary School and Peter Symonds Grammar School/College. He then graduated from the University of Southampton with a BA degree in Modern History.<ref name=Ultimate>{{cite book|date=10 October 2013|author=Kevin Ashman|isbn=978-1471131554|title= The Ultimate Eggheads Quiz Book |publisher= Simon & Schuster Ltd}}</ref> Ashman taught himself to read when he was three years old in the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4021295.egghead-champion-kevin-ashman-says-the-fame-game-is-not-for-him/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20don't%20have%20a,I%20never%20really%20switch%20off.%E2%80%9D/ |title=Egghead champion, Kevin Ashman, says the fame game is not for him |date=5 January 2009 }}</ref>
==Career== Ashman had his first major television quiz success on ''Fifteen to One'', winning Series 3 in 1989, and returned to win the special 'Millennium Edition' between past champions in 1999. In 1995, he won ''Mastermind'', scoring a record 41 points with no passes in his heat. His specialist subject on that occasion was the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. He later became the champion after winning the final with the subject Zulu War and, in 2006, appeared on the final of the Junior version encouraging a young contestant who also chose Zulu Wars as his final subject. In 1996, the year following his ''Mastermind'' victory, he won ''Brain of Britain'', scoring 38 in his semi final, which remains the highest individual score ever made on the show. He then went on to win ''Brain of Brains'' (contested between the previous three years' Brains of Britain) and ''Top Brain'' (contested every nine years between the previous three ''Brain of Brains''). Ashman also twice won ''Master Brain'', a radio competition for winners and runners-up of ''Mastermind'' and ''Brain of Britain''.
He also won ''Sale of the Century'', ''Screen Test'', ''Quiz Night'', ''Trivial Pursuit'' and ''The Great British Quiz''.
==Professional==
===Question-setter for ''Brain of Britain''=== Between 2002 and 2006, Ashman was the question-setter and arbiter on the Radio 4 quiz show ''Brain of Britain'', working under the pen-name of ''''Jorkins'''' (a name taken from ''David Copperfield''). He was appointed to the position on the death of Ian Gillies, who worked under the pen-name 'Mycroft'. He left when production moved to Manchester.
===Eggheads=== From November 2003 until April 2023, he competed on the British quiz show ''Eggheads'', teamed up with several other quiz champions, in which members of the public pit their wits against them in order to win a cash prize. Alongside his Egghead teammates, he also took part in the spin-off show ''Are You an Egghead?'', a competition to find further members of the Egghead team, resulting in the addition of Barry Simmons in the first series in 2008 and Pat Gibson in the second series in 2009. For the first ten years and two months of the show, Ashman had never incorrectly answered a history category question, this happened for the first time in January 2014.
==National and international quizzing championships== {{MedalTableTop}} {{MedalSport|Quizzing}} {{MedalCountry|England}} {{MedalCompetition|British Quiz Association}} {{MedalGold|1999|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2000|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2002|Singles}} {{MedalCompetition|British Championships}} {{MedalGold|2004 Old Trafford|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2005 Altrincham|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2006 Shrewsbury|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2007 Staveley|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2008 Staveley|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2008 Staveley|Pairs}} {{MedalSilver|2009 Derby|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2010 Derby|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2011 Lichfield|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2012 Lichfield|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2013 Hilton|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2013 Hilton|Pairs}} {{MedalSilver|2014 Rothwell|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2015 Newark|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2016 Coventry|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2017 Coventry|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2017 Coventry|Pairs}} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships }} {{MedalGold|2004 Old Trafford|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2005 Silverstone|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2006 Newport|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2007 Irthlingborough|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2009 Ludlow|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2010 Peterborough|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2011 Lichfield|Singles}} {{MedalBronze|2013 Masham|Singles}} {{MedalBronze|2014 Surrey|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2015 Burton upon Trent|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2016 Northampton|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2017 Northampton|Singles}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championships}} {{MedalGold|2004 Ghent|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2004 Ghent|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2005 Tallinn|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2005 Tallinn|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2006 Paris|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2006 Paris|Pairs}} {{MedalSilver|2006 Paris|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2006 Paris|Club}} {{MedalGold|2007 Blackpool|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2008 Oslo|Singles}} {{MedalBronze|2008 Oslo|Pairs}} {{MedalSilver|2008 Oslo|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2009 Dordrecht|Singles}} {{MedalBronze|2009 Dordrecht|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2009 Dordrecht|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2010 Derby|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2010 Derby|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2011 Bruges|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2011 Bruges|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2012 Tartu|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2012 Tartu|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2013 Liverpool|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2013 Liverpool|Club}} {{MedalGold|2013 Liverpool|National Team}} {{MedalSilver|2014 Bucharest|Singles}} {{MedalSilver|2014 Bucharest|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2014 Bucharest|National Team}} {{MedalGold|2015 Rotterdam|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2015 Rotterdam|National Team}} {{MedalSilver|2016 Athens|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2016 Athens|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2016 Athens|National Team}} {{MedalBronze|2016 Athens|Club}} {{MedalBronze|2017 Zagreb|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2017 Zagreb|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2017 Zagreb|National Team}} {{MedalSilver|2018 Venice|Pairs}} {{MedalBronze|2018 Venice|National Team}} {{MedalSilver|2019 Sofia|Singles}} {{MedalGold|2019 Sofia|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2019 Sofia|National Team}} {{MedalBronze|2019 Sofia|Club}} {{MedalGold|2022 Berlin|Pairs}} {{MedalGold|2022 Berlin|Club}} {{MedalBronze|2022 Berlin|National Team}} {{MedalBronze|2023 Torremolinos|National Team}} {{MedalBottom}}
Currently ranked World/European number 1,<ref>[http://www.iqa.be International Quizzing Association, Rankings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120145821/http://www.iqa.be/ |date=20 January 2017 }},</ref> Ashman has 17 gold, 13 silver and 3 bronze medals from the British, European and World Championships, and has been capped 10 times for the England team, with a record of 7 wins and 3 losses. In addition he has won the British Quiz Championship seven times, as well as many other tournaments. In 2004 he won the World Quizzing Championships individual competition, a tournament organised by the newly formed International Quizzing Association (IQA), as well as the European Quizzing Championships (organised by the same group) both individually and for nations, in Gent, Belgium. He followed this up by winning the World Quizzing Championships again in July 2005. He is the first person to retain this title and, for a second year running, he finished ahead of Pat Gibson of Ireland and Nico Pattyn of Belgium. In November 2005 he retained his individual title at the European Quizzing Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. At this event he again captained the England quiz team, this time losing to Belgium in the final. In July 2006 he won the World Quizzing Championships for the third year in succession and followed this in December by again winning the European Quizzing Championships (held near Paris, France). He also won the team title with his team Milhous Warriors, but the English quiz team was once again beaten by the Belgians. In 2007 Ashman lost his World title to Pat Gibson, who narrowly beat him into runner-up spot (a position Gibson himself had occupied for four years). He also lost his European title to Nico Pattyn of Belgium, but he took revenge by regaining the title with the England national team, beating the Belgians in the final at Blackpool. In 2008, in Oslo, this situation was reversed with him being runner-up in the team competition but regaining his singles title. In 2009 he regained the World title, the first player ever to do so, when winning for the 4th time. In 2009 he narrowly missed the British title, losing by a point in a tie-break, to 2008 World Champion Mark Bytheway.
==Domestic competition/Quiz leagues== {{BLP unsourced section|date=November 2010}} Ashman is a committed quizzer and has three main teams (excluding the ''Eggheads'' team on TV). In the QLL he competes with the ''Allsorts'' (alongside former Mastermind winner Gavin Fuller) and has won the league on numerous occasions, in the ''Winchester Quiz League'', organised by Peter Byford, he plays for the ''King Alfred'' and in national events he plays for the ''Milhous Warriors''. The Milhous Warriors, most of whom are based in Swindon, England, have often emerged victorious in the team elements of events run by Quizzing.co.uk, becoming National Champions at Old Trafford football stadium in 2004 and Silverstone in 2005 as part of those years' UK leg of the World Quizzing Championship event. In 2006 they became the first British team to win the European Team Championship, doing so in Paris. In 2008 they were winners in the final of the Clubs and Institutes (CIU) IDC Freeclaim sponsored national championships.
==Personal life== A keen traveller, he lives in Winnall, Winchester in Hampshire. It was revealed on ''Eggheads'' on 5 October 2009 that Ashman supports Tottenham Hotspur. He also has an interest in folk music and is a keen theatregoer. He was Peter Kay and Paddy McGuinness' Phone-A-Friend for their appearance on ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' on 12 January 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPEbVYkWMMA&t=600s |title=Peter Kay & Paddy McGuinness On Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? |accessdate= 7 January 2026 |publisher= Peter Kay YouTube Channel}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashman, Kevin}} Category:Alumni of the University of Southampton Category:People educated at Peter Symonds College Category:Civil servants in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Category:Contestants on British game shows Category:Living people Category:IQA team event gold medalists Category:1959 births Category:People from Winchester