A Manx farmer who was a contestant on one of the BBC’s most iconic game shows has said she’ll ‘never forget the Marc Chagall Museum’ after narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-finals.

Carol Kermode had islanders glued to their televisions this week as she sat in the famous black chair on BBC Two’s Mastermind.

From Orrisdale Farm in Ballasalla, Carol answered questions from Clive Myrie on her chosen specialist subject: The history of cattle.

Going last out of the four contenders, she answered nine correct answers in two minutes, with no passes to lead after the first round.

In the second round, general knowledge, Carol again went last needing 11 points to win.

Beginning with questions on the Sicilian defence and Fawlty Towers, she answered well and with only one pass drew level with fellow competitor Sharon.

Passing on a tough question about a Russian French artist who has a museum dedicated to his work in modern day Belarus and Nice, Carol was pipped to victory by Sharon in heartbreaking fashion.

Despite just missing out on the show’s semi-finals, Carol said she enjoyed the experience, but won’t be forgiving herself for not answering the all important Marc Chagall question.

She said: ‘I think I did alright, but I’ll never, ever forget the answer to that question I passed on. My mind went totally blank!

‘I should’ve given any answer, but I passed because I knew I was running low on time. I was frustrated at myself for passing because the one thing I said before I went was don’t pass but I enjoyed it.

‘I’d recommend other people trying it, when you’re through the process you’ve got your own subject, and you should stand a chance if you research it properly.’

Carol explained how her chance in the limelight came about: ‘I applied to go on the show, I enter competitions and things like this and I’ve never done Mastermind so I thought I’d try it.

‘I’ve always wanted to do it and I watch it regularly, so I saw the application form online and got an email back asking for a Zoom meeting.’

Following another interview, Carol was in.

Asked to pick three subjects, originally she wanted to be questioned on sheep, however the BBC informed her they don’t have the resources for that subject, therefore she made an easy change as she’s ‘always been interested in the history of domesticated cattle’.

Despite years of experience in farming, and a good knowledge of cattle, Carol said that ‘once the filming starts, and you’re told to look at the camera and keep a straight face, all the music and lights start, it’s all a bit real!’