Eggheads star CJ de Mooi: ‘I suspect I’ve killed a man’

'I punched him so hard in the face... and threw him in the canal'

Cj de Mooi (top) on Eggheads (BBC)

Eggheads panellist CJ de Mooi has revealed how he believes he once killed a man, after punching him and throwing him in a canal.

The gifted quiz-player made the startling admission in his autobiography, which the Daily Mirror published an extract from this morning.

“He caught me on the wrong day and I just snapped,” de Mooi wrote.

“I fully suspect I killed him. I've no idea what happened to him."

He added of the attack: “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.

“I punched him so hard in the face, knocked the knife out of his hand and threw him in the canal. I fully suspect I killed him. I’ve no idea what happened to him.

"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 has been reported that police in Amsterdam are now investigating the incident.

De Mooi's autobiography charts his rise from a violent, racist and homophobic home in Rotherham to become a president of the English Chess Federation.

He worked as a prostitute in London before moving to Amsterdam and finding himself broke.

Prior to becoming a regular on the BBC's Eggheads, de Mooi appeared on The Weakest Link.

He once described his fellow contestants as "idiots", before adding: "I hope they, their loved ones and all their pets die horribly in freak yachting accidents!"