Magic man can't charm TV Queen of Mean Anne

3:00pm Wednesday 21st February 2007

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WHEN a Southampton entertainer signed up to appear on a TV quiz show he knew it would take more than just magic to get him to the top.

But despite being a whizz with a pack of cards, magician Paul Newton found that when it came to answering trivia questions, he really was The Weakest Link.

“My fiancee said that I should be on TV, so I said to her ‘If you can get me on TV I will do it’,” he explained.

The 30-year-old, from Thornhill, found himself on the show after his fiancee suggested his personality lended itself to TV.

"My fiancee said that I should be on TV, so I said to her If you can get me on TV I will do it'," he explained.

"The next thing I knew, I had an audition for The Weakest Link."

The game started well for full-time magician Paul as he dodged votes and survived the early rounds.

He made it to round six of eight before he was dealt the final blow.

The question was on literature - "In which book does a doctor drink a potion that turns him into another person?"

"I gave my answer as Franken-stein," said Paul.

"As soon as I said it, I knew I'd answered wrong - I should have said Jekyll and Hyde. That was the question that really killed me."

Unfortunately, that was the end of the line for Paul, and he was voted off by the other three contestants before host Anne Robinson barked her catchphrase: "You are the weakest link. Goodbye."

"I was chuffed to have got so far, though," he added.

"Anne was lovely when the cameras were not running, but as soon as recording started she became the Anne that we all know.

"She did have a bit of a whinge at me for being a magician, and forced me to perform a magic trick for her."

Paul now says he will be applying for more game shows.

l You can see Paul's appearance in The Weakest Link on Tuesday at 5.15pm on BBC 2.