Edinburgh University Challenge team member speaks out after Twitter backlash

‘We all found it rather funny to be honest’


The Edinburgh University team has reached the semi-finals of University Challenge, after beating Cambridge University’s Emmanuel College in the quarter-finals.

However, this week’s win in the quarter-finals was overshadowed by a backlash on Twitter over the behaviour of Edi team member Thomas towards his fellow teammate Jones.

During the match Thomas can be seen turning his back to Jones, seemingly cutting him off from conversation with the rest of the team.

Many fans of the show took to Twitter to complain about Thomas’ behaviour, with one user tweeting: “Why is Thomas turning his back on Jones. So fucking rude”, and another tweeting: “Have Jones and Thomas fallen out?”.

In response to the backlash, Thomas told The Edinburgh Tab: “We all found it rather funny to be honest. The four of us get on really well and it’s quite entertaining to see people reading into our team dynamic based on a few shots.

“If you want a practical explanation, I’m 6’1 and it was a very small desk and a very high chair – add that to a load of nervous energy, and it was hard not to twist.

“Ben (Jones) is a really good friend – any backlash couldn’t be further from the truth, but that’s often the way with these things”.

This week’s University Challenge episode saw the Edinburgh University team make it to the semi-finals after a tight match, with the Edi team making a last minute comeback to win with 150 points versus Emmanuel’s 145 points.

This follows Edinburgh University’s victory in 2019, when the Edi team beat Oxford University’s St Edmund Hall to be crowned champions.

After the match there was also a lot of love on Twitter for The Edinburgh Team, and in particular Jones, with one user tweeting: “Player of the match: It has to be Jones – From sheer despair to winning the game! What a cracking effort from both sides”.

You can find all the episodes of University Challenge here.

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All legal Covid restrictions in Scotland will end on 21 March