Paul Sinha
Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British quizzer, comedian, doctor and award-winning broadcaster. He has written and performed extensively on Radio 4, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show "The Chase". Early life. Sinha was educated at Dulwich College and St George's Hospital Medical School. Sinha is a former general practitioner, qualifying in the 1990s. While at medical school he developed a taste for the stage in St George's annual revue and refined his comedy as co-editor of the medical school newsletter, popularly known as  the "Slag Mag". Career. Stand-up comedy. Sinha began performing stand-up while working as a junior doctor in hospitals in London and King's Lynn. His early material drew on his sexuality and ethnicity, with heavy use of puns. In 1999, he came third in the final of the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year. After several years of combining touring with his nascent medical career, Sinha's breakthrough came with his second solo Edinburgh show, "Saint or Sinha?", which earned him an if.comeddie nomination in 2006. Radio. Sinha has performed many times on BBC Radio 4, on  shows including "The News Quiz", "The Now Show", "Loose Ends", "28 Acts in 28 Minutes", "Shappi Talk" and "Just a Minute". His interest in football (he is a Liverpool F.C. fan) and cricket has led to appearances on Radio 5 Live, most notably on "Fighting Talk", where he has won the Champion of Champions finale twice. He has also appeared on Talksport. He has appeared as a guest on "Midweek", "Woman's Hour", "Broadcasting House" and as a political pundit on "PM". In March 2011, Sinha presented his own Radio 4 programme, "Paul Sinha's Quiz Culture", in which he  explored the world of competitive quizzing. His second documentary, "The Sinha Test", aired on 14 July 2011 and examined patriotism and sporting allegiance. In July 2012, he wrote and presented a programme called "The Sinha Games" on BBC Radio 4 about the Olympic Games and his experience as a Londoner. In December 2014, Sinha wrote and performed his first series on Radio 4, "Paul Sinha's History Revision". A second series followed in May 2016, winning the Rose d'Or for Radio Comedy. The follow-up, "Paul Sinha's General Knowledge", has completed its third series. Sinha is a regular panellist  on Round Britain Quiz, representing the South of England with Marcus Berkmann. Quizzing. After an appearance on "The Weakest Link" (where he was voted off 4th), Sinha made appearances on "" (lost), "Are You an Egghead?" (lost in first round), "Mastermind" (4th) and "Brain of Britain" (3rd). Sinha is currently ranked 7th in the National Quiz Rankings (as of 30 May 2017), and placed 11th in the 2018 World Quizzing Championships. Sinha also plays in the Quiz League of London for the Gray Monks and in the Online Quiz League for Quiz Machine Kills Fascists. Section::::"The Chase". In 2011, Sinha joined  the ITV quiz series "The Chase" as the fourth "Chaser", with the nicknames "The Sinnerman", "The Smiling Assassin" and "Sarcasm in a Suit". His first episode was broadcast in the fourth series on 8 September 2011. He also appears in celebrity and family editions of the show. He has said he is more famous overseas (particularly in New Zealand) than in Britain, where "The Chase" is screened at 5pm before people are home from work. Television. In 2019, he appeared on Series 8 of "Taskmaster", finishing in last place with 136 points. In January 2021, Sinha began hosting his  own quiz show for ITV, called "Paul Sinha's TV Showdown", featuring celebrities who go head to head together in a bid to answer as many questions as they can on TV knowledge. The show commenced on 9 January 2021, and concluded on 13 February 2021. A second series was commissioned and premiered 19 February 2022, releasing weekly until 2 April 2022. Personal life. Sinha was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in May 2019. Sinha is openly gay and on 14 December 2019, he married Oliver Levy.