You never know what to expect from former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe. She’s now following stints on Celebrity Fit Club, Strictly Come Dancing and panto by turning her hand to hosting a quiz show, Cleverdicks.

So Ann, what can you tell us about Cleverdicks?
The questions are not obscure like they are on University Challenge but they are quite testing. And it’s quite interesting when there is a pop culture question as that’s what throws the contestants, because they are very serious quizzers. So they have an encyclopaedic general knowledge, everything from chemical compounds to obscure authors…they are really pretty amazing. One or two disappoint you, that is inevitable. But some of them left me reeling at the speed with which they got the answers. Funnily enough we had quite a few contestants from the Inland Revenue. I was utterly baffled by that.

There are four rounds and a player is eliminated in each round. The person who survives to the end is playing for money, and to be named as that day’s Cleverdick. It’s not a vast amount of money - this isn’t Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - but they can rollover the money and come back on the next show as reigning champion.

What are you like as a host?
I think I bring excitement, as I know how to turn on the pressure. But I don’t bring rudery. It’s good-natured. I am a bit sharp with the contestants occasionally and say, ‘Oh come on, come on…’ but that’s all. I don’t have a role model. I do love Jeremy Paxman and John Humphrys’ style. I don’t like Anne Robinson’s style, although I do like her. But this is very much its own programme and I think I am very much my own style of quizmaster, not modelled on anyone else.

So do you have any gimmicks?
When I was in the shadow cabinet I decided to do my party conference speech without notes, and party chairman Michael Ancram nearly laid an egg. And when we were pitching this show to Sky1 suddenly decided I wasn’t going to sit behind a desk, I was going to walk around, and they nearly laid an egg! But it worked. In the end I found you can’t do a whole show like that, but I do move around to talk to the contestants.

And how have you found this new challenge?
I filmed three episodes a day but I wouldn’t say it was tiring. If you have been a minister doing red boxes till 2am then you will never be tired again. But it was very demanding, as you have to be as sharp for the last question on the last show as for the first question on the first show. In the very early stages of filming I think the contestants were all primed to be forgiving. If I had come a long way to make a quiz and the stupid quizmaster got something wrong I think I’d be quite irritated, but they were very kind.

People might be surprised to see you hosting a quiz show…
The great thing about retirement is that you are open to opportunities. You aren’t building a career, so you can do something just because you think it will be fun. I have turned down quite a few projects because I just thought, ‘No, I don’t want to do it.’ But I am having huge fun with Cleverdicks and I would like to do more.

I turned down the last Big Brother with exceptional firmness. The money offer was very large and I thought, ‘Good, if I turn this one down then hopefully they will get the message.’ I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! only asked once, got the message and didn’t come back. And I wouldn’t do Dancing On Ice as I have too much respect for my bones.

Have you got any other projects lined up and do you get much spare time?
I want to write a detective novel. I was quite a long way through one but switched to doing my autobiography as the publishers were keen to have that. I’m not working harder now than I did as an MP as that isn’t possible. But I am still working more than full-time. So there isn’t that much spare time right now, but that will come.

There has been lots of discussion about who should replace Alesha Dixon as the fourth judge on Strictly Come Dancing. Do you have an opinion?
There is one thing I feel quite seriously about that - I don’t want the fourth judge to be a specialist. You’ve got three judges who are technicians and can analyse all the steps. What Alesha did bring to the show which Arlene Phillips didn’t, whatever her qualities, is the layman’s approach, albeit someone who had been through the experience and had success with it. I did like Arlene and I am not making an unfavourable comparison. But Alesha was a different type of voice which shouldn’t be lost. The only time Alesha went wrong was when she tried to be an expert.

Tricia Martin