University Challenge contestant gains thousands of twitter fans for his intense quiz technique on BBC show
Economics student Eric Monkman's intense grimace has won him a legion of fans
AN ECONOMICS student has been crowned a "legend" for his passionate grimaces while on a BBC Two quiz show.
Eric Monkman was crowned "an absolute gent" and a "hero" as he led his team to a narrow victory on the University Challenge show.
Monkman, who was part of the Wolfson College, Cambridge team, starred on the BBC Two quiz show, with the Canadian contestant even inspiring his own hashtag #monkmania.
Watchers of the show have said they have caught monkmania, sharing stills of Monkman's intense facial expressions as he brought his team to win 185-175 in the first round contest, hosted by Jeremy Paxman.
The team's victory over the School of Oriental and African Studies was sealed when the team answered a question about molluscs correctly.
One person tweeted: "been watching this all day, I've got #monkmania"
Another wrote: "I can't remember what life was like before Monkman".
A third, who managed to find Monkman on Twitter wrote: "THE REAL LIFE ERIC MONKMAN! What a time to be alive!"
Others called for the young man to be on Big Brother, Love Island or even First Dates.
Memes of Monkman's aggressive facial expressions were also created, including "Monkman says relax".
His eager head turn also left viewers singing his praises.
Embracing his newfound fame, Eric Monkman tweeted: ";It has been quite the interesting day for me.
"Now having my morning tea, and them (sic) I'm off on vacation.
"See you all again soon."
The University Challenge show first aired in 1963, with the show hosted by Bamber Gascoigne until it was axed in 1987.
The show was brought back in 1994, hosted by Paxman.
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