Victoria Coren Mitchell

Victoria Coren Mitchell is a writer, broadcaster, presenter and former professional poker player. As well as regular appearances on panel shows and a range of newspaper and magazine columns, she is the host of one of the toughest quizzes on television, BBC2’s Only Connect.

Starting her journalism career as a teenager after responding to a Telegraph ad for young writers, Victoria became a freelancer after university writing columns, articles and reviews. She adapted John Diamond’s columns into the critically acclaimed play A Lump in my Throat, and wrote two books before joining the professional poker circuit. She became the first woman to win a European Poker Tour event, and the first player to win two European Main Events. She has commentated and presented poker on TV, and wrote about her experiences in the book For Richer, For Poorer: Confessions of a Player.

Victoria has also fronted programmes on radio and TV including Balderdash And Piffle (about language and the history of words) and Radio 4’s Heresy (about defying conventional thinking), as well as documentaries and films on surrealist art, language and Mary Poppins. A panel show regular she has been both guest and host on Have I Got News For You, and appeared on QI, Room 101, Question Time, This Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Would I Lie To You.