Paul Sinha

Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British professional quizzer, doctor, and comedian. He has written and performed extensively on BBC Radio 4, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show The Chase.

Early life Supriya Kumar Sinha was born on 28 May 1970 to Bengali Hindu parents. His father and paternal grandfather were doctors; his mother was a nurse.

In a 2024 interview with The Big Issue, Sinha described a racially motivated mugging he experienced at age 16; while he was on the train to a Liverpool F.C. match, some fellow football fans mocked his accent and ethnic background before stealing his watch.

Sinha was educated at Dulwich College and St George's Hospital Medical School. He is a former general practitioner, qualifying in the 1990s. While at medical school he developed a taste for the stage in St George's annual revue and refined his comedy as co-editor of the medical school newsletter, popularly known as the Slag Mag.

Career Stand-up comedy Sinha began performing stand-up while working as a junior doctor in hospitals in London and King's Lynn. His early material drew on his sexuality and ethnicity, with heavy use of puns.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows 2004, Aspects of Love, Actually 2006, Saint or Sinha? (if.comeddie award nomination) 2007, King of the World 2009, 39 Years of Solitude 2010, Extreme Anti-White Vitriol 2011, Looking at the Stars 2015, Postcards from the Z List 2017, Shout Out to my Ex 2018, The Two Ages of Man 2022, One Sinha Lifetime 2023, Pauly Bengali 2025, 2 Sinha Lifetime

Radio Sinha has performed many times on BBC Radio 4, on shows including The News Quiz, The Now Show, Loose Ends, 28 Acts in 28 Minutes, Shappi Talk and Just a Minute. His interest in football (he is a Liverpool F.C. fan) and cricket has led to appearances on BBC Radio 5 Live,

In March 2011, Sinha presented his own BBC Radio 4 programme, Paul Sinha's Quiz Culture, in which he explored the world of competitive quizzing. His second documentary, The Sinha Test, aired on 14 July 2011 and examined patriotism and sporting allegiance. In July 2012, he wrote and presented a programme called The Sinha Games on BBC Radio 4 about the Olympic Games and his experience as a Londoner.

In 2013, Sinha wrote and performed his first series on BBC Radio 4, Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test. . This was followed in 2014 by Paul Sinha's History Revision. A second series of History Revision followed in May 2016, winning the Rose d'Or for Radio Comedy. The follow-up, Paul Sinha's General Knowledge, has completed its third series. In 2022, Paul Sinha wrote and starred in Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz.

Sinha is a regular panellist on Round Britain Quiz, representing the South of England with Marcus Berkmann.

Quizzing After an appearance on The Weakest Link (where he was voted off fourth), Sinha made appearances on University Challenge: The Professionals (lost), Are You an Egghead? (lost in first round), Mastermind (fourth) and Brain of Britain (third). Sinha was ranked seventh in the National Quiz Rankings (as of 30 May 2017), and placed 11th in the 2018 World Quizzing Championships. Sinha also plays in the Quiz League of London for the Gray Monks and in the Online Quiz League for Quiz Machine Kills Fascists.

In 2011, Sinha joined the ITV quiz series The Chase as the fourth "Chaser", His first episode was broadcast in the fourth series on 8 September 2011. He also appears in celebrity and family editions of the show. Sinha has said that he feels that he and the show are more well-known overseas, particularly in New Zealand where people are more likely to get home from work in time to watch it.

Television In 2019, he appeared on Series 8 of Taskmaster, finishing in last place with 136 points.

In January 2021, Sinha began hosting his own quiz show for ITV, called Paul Sinha's TV Showdown, featuring celebrities who go head to head together in a bid to answer as many questions as they can on TV knowledge. The show commenced on 9 January 2021, and concluded on 13 February 2021. A second series was commissioned and premiered 19 February 2022, released weekly until 2 April 2022.

Personal life Sinha was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in May 2019, after a consultant noticed him displaying early symptoms while watching him on Taskmaster.

On 20 June 2024, Sinha's autobiography One Sinha Lifetime was released and published by Penguin Books.