Clive Myrie to replace John Humphrys as Mastermind host - here’s where you’ve seen him before

Clive Myrie is to replace John Humphrys as the presenter of the BBC’s Mastermind quiz show.

The news presenter is a well-known face among the BBC audience, and will continue to be the anchorman on BBC News at six and ten.

Announcing his new role, Myrie described it as “big shoes to fill,” but has vowed to bring a fresh personality to the show’s established format.

So, who is Myrie and why has he been chosen to succeed Humphrys?

Who is Clive Myrie?

Myrie is a British broadcaster, born in Bolton in August 1964.

He was raised by Jamaican parents and attended his local grammar school, Hayward Grammar.

Myrie then went on to read law at the University of Sussex, which he graduated from in 1985.

In 1988, he joined the BBC through the company’s graduate programme and was appointed as a presenter on Radio Bristol.

He is married and has told how his wife has feared for his safety, as he has been the victim of racist abuse.

This included receiving faeces in the post, death threats and receiving a card with a Gorilla on it, which read: “We don't want people like you on our TV screens.”

In 2019, a far-right extremist was jailed after threatening Myrie’s life. He told the Guardian he feels racism has grown significantly in the past decade.

He said he could count fewer than ten incidents of racial abuse towards him before 2009, “But it has picked up in the last decade and become incredibly more prevalent in the last few years. Why has that happened? I don’t know,” he added.

His career at the BBC

Myrie has worked for the BBC as foreign correspondent in over 80 countries, as the Europe correspondent and as leading presenter on the network's evening news programmes.

He has won awards for his acclaimed journalism, including the Bayeux-Calvados Award for war correspondents for his reporting of ethnic violence on the island of Borneo.

He was also part of the Bafta-nominated team behind coverage of the Mozambique floods.

In 2009, Myrie was recruited as the weekend presenter of BBC news, before taking up the midweek evening news role in 2014.