'It feels like a full circle' - Bolton businessman will represent Man Met on University Challenge

As Christmas gears up, University Challenge will be among the many programmes getting a Christmas special over the festive period. Businessman Lee Chambers is the founder of Male Allies UK, an organisation which works with men to promote a more inclusive environment in the workplace.

Lee was born and raised in Bolton and opened up about his mental health struggles when he went to university. This included taking a year out to feel better before he graduated, before going on to found a successful business.

Now, Lee is on the board for the business school at MMU. He shared how proud he is to be representing his university on this year's Christmas edition of University Challenge.

"As a boy who grew up on a council estate in Bolton, it was something I saw on BBC2 as a kid," he told the Manchester Evening News. "I thought maybe I will do that but never thought I would.

"I'm the first in family to go to university. I went to Manchester Met and had some mental health struggles, spent a year getting myself back into place, gone back and graduated."

He added: "Gone through some adversity and come back. Twenty years later I joined the advisory board for the business school."

"It feels like a full circle. It's quite an honour."

Appearing on University Challenge would be a hair-raising experience for anyone, and Lee shared that he was a little nervous. Nonetheless, he soon found his stride and said he had a great time filming.

He said: "I think everyone who's going to sit in that chair and be grilled with some difficult questions is nervous. Once you have got into into you gete a bit of momentum and the nerves start to drop away.

"Manchester Met hasn't had a team on it for 10 years, it's a very rare opportunity to have had. We had a