Victoria Coren Mitchell

“Ed Miliband should be out and proud about his abstruse interests, his Master's in Economics, his political obsession, his prioritising of the mental over the physical.”

“Half the point of education is to build peer groups and social bonds.”

“I don't really think of myself as stupid - but then, who does?”

“The Highway Code can't be that difficult to understand, and yet my brain seems to treat it as a set of nuclear fission instructions in Old Japanese.”

“I play quite an old-fashioned game of poker. It's a lot about getting a sense of people at the table rather than the maths of the thing.”

“You can always recognise my restless peers and me; we are the people whose feet you hear tramping along the pavement at the other end of the phone line because we can only make calls while moving.”

“Sometimes, the only reason to watch anything acclaimed is on the off-chance you really hate it.”

“The idea of MPs texting and emailing through debates makes my gorge rise, as it does when a minicab driver makes phone calls at the wheel. I'm not paying you to keep in touch with your mates!”

“I'm really bored by the constant vilifying of people (especially women) for things they didn't say.”

“My own, purely personal view is that reading, study, poetry, and scientific experiment might be more rewarding than a job or children, so I would never advise anyone against university if they're going for the right reasons.”

“Weight gain is good because it makes your dresses tight. This is not necessarily classy or flattering, but it means you don't have to iron anything.”

“I am a big fan of Bournemouth, having enjoyed many happy hours on its sandy beach and crazy golf course.”

“Many poker players swear by sleeping a certain number of hours before a tournament, going to the gym in the morning, and 'clearing the mind.' Juggling two jobs alongside my chosen game, I never have time and am invariably sending work emails from my iPhone between hands.”

“It is impossible to identify a nice scent from within the chemical cloud of a perfume department.”

“Given the choice, the majority of children wouldn't go to school at all. The whole thing's ghastly.”

“After a bath, we all love to dry off with a towel. But do we need it to survive? No. It's a luxury.”

“Driving a car is no longer about zooming down clear lanes, the joy and freedom of the road flowing through your hair like a fine westerly breeze. It's about solid traffic, petrol fumes, spy cameras, eco-guilt, and simultaneous social media.”

“I'm too short-sighted, too squeamish for contact lenses and too vain for glasses.”

“I can be a bit weird, cross when I'm cross, tired when I'm tired, and hungry when I'm hungry.”

“I'd like to be more decisive. I can take an hour to choose between two brands of washing powder in the supermarket.”