This has been a really weird year.
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. Leicester City are Premier League champions. And we’ve all spent months discussing a dead gorilla.
But this might be the weirdest story yet.
Former Eggheads panelist CJ de Mooi is apparently set to be extradited back to the Netherlands after being arrested in Heathrow Airport on suspicion of murder.
Eggheads star CJ de Mooi is facing extradition to the Netherlands over his confession that he killed a mugger in 1988
— Tristan Kirk (@kirkkorner) September 22, 2016
De Mooi – real name Joseph Connagh – confessed that he “fully” suspected he may have murdered someone in his book CJ: My Journey from the Streets to the Screen, when he detailed an incident that allegedly took place while he was homeless in Amsterdam in 1988.
‘This is the one incident of my life I do regret. I was in a phone box and this old guy, obviously a massive drug user, came up behind me with a knife in his hand.
‘He told me to turn around, open my bag and give him whatever was inside.
‘It was the only outburst of violence I’ve ever done. That’s one of the main reasons why I absolutely abhor all violence.
‘He caught me on the wrong day and I just snapped.
‘I punched him so hard in the face, knocked the knife out of his hand and threw him in the canal. I fully suspect I killed him. I’ve no idea what happened to him.’
Dutch police say that they were unaware of the incident until hearing about it from De Mooi and issued a European arrest warrant for the actor who had recently left Eggheads after the BBC decided not to renew his contract in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
Police decided not to pursue any action against De Mooi and the 46-year-old said he was leaving the show in order to pursue an acting career in South Africa.
De Mooi will now appear in Westminster Magistrates Court.
