A 12-year-old Indian-origin contestant on a British television show has become an overnight sensation after he answered all the questions correctly.
Rahul, whose surname has not been revealed, got all 14 of his questions correct in the first round of the latest series of ‘Child Genius’, a show broadcast by Channel 4.
He has an IQ of 162, which is believed to be higher than the likes of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking and qualifies him to be a member of Mensa club - the biggest and the oldest high IQ society in the world.
However, as neither of the scientists were recorded as having taken an IQ test, the scores are only estimates.
On the TV show, 20 contestants in age group of eight to 12 will be whittled down to one winner over the course of a week.
Rahul scored full marks in a spelling test, correctly reciting the letters of words like garrulous, accouchement, and hyponatraemia (low level of sodium in the blood).
In a timed memory round, he answered 14 questions out of 15 correctly, but did not have time to answer the final question.
I always want to do the best, and I’ll do that no matter what the cost. I think I’m a genius. I’m good at mental maths, general knowledge and I find it quite easy to memorise stuff.Rahul
He said unlike most kids who want immediate gratification he wants long-term gratification. “If I could maybe play my Xbox, I’ll be really happy now, but I might be sad later on because I haven’t revised for my test,” said Rahul.
He also said his favourite language is Latin.
His success in the first round of the show made him an instant social media hit.
One Twitter user joked:
While he narrowly lost out in a maths round, he is exempt from elimination due to his high score.
Rahul's father Minesh, who is an IT manager, and mother Komal, who is a pharmacist, said their son was in the game to win and their role was to encourage him.
“We are here to win. There are no two ways about that. We’re all achievers. I used to play table tennis for Barnet council. We’re always trying to better ourselves,” said Minesh, Rahul’s father.
The show's finale, which is set to take place over the weekend, will crown UK's brightest child.
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