Brandon Blackwell caught the trivia bug early, and he proved to have a knack for knowledge. Blackwell made his quiz show debut on "Teen Jeopardy" at age 14, and he has since appeared on "University Challenge," "The Million Second Quiz," and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" As of 2020, he has earned over $460,000 on various game shows. "I mean, it's just what I spend most of my time doing," he humbly stated in the same Guardian interview. "I guess I like the challenge of it. I'm just very competitive, period."
For Blackwell, quizzing requires as much training as any other form of competition, and he stays nimble by participating in quiz leagues, competing in between five and eight leagues at any given time. The early days of the pandemic came with a silver lining for Blackwell, who used the time in quarantine to bone up on trivia.
Blackwell's earnings, as well as his cushy job on "The Chase," have come with their own hurdles. He has spoken about the challenges of being one of only a few Black quizzers while living in the United Kingdom. "That's what the problem is," he told The Guardian, "because representation does matter."
According to Blackwell, his ultimate goal is to appear on the Mount Rushmore of British trivia shows: "Only Connect," "University Challenge," "Mastermind," and "Brain of Britain." But for now, he'll have to be content staying stateside for "The Chase."
