Havelock North's William Barnes wins Mastermind

Keeping his victory a secret has been the biggest challenge for Mastermind 2016 winner William Barnes.

The 36-year-old Havelock North teacher was crowned the TVNZ quiz show's champion in Sunday night's finale, defeating Dunedin's David Barnes, Wellington's Jackie Owens and Auckland's Julyan Lawry.

He says he has been thankful the past two weeks have been the school holidays, as it offered him respite from the daily inquiries from his young charges at Napier's Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Ara Hou as to whether he had triumphed.

"It has been hard keeping a straight face when they ask me," Barnes admits, revealing that the final was recorded at Queen's Birthday Weekend.

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Although now an English teacher, Barnes used his passion for history as inspiration for his specialist subject choices – American History in the 1960s and Joseph Stalin

"I didn't want to do World War I or II, because I thought they would be too big, so I thought the next best thing would be the 1960s. I also thought people watching it might find it potentially interesting too. As for Stalin, he was just someone I know a lot about."

He says the latter topic proved to be tricky for the Mastermind producers, who struggled to find suitable texts to draw questions from. "That was a bit annoying, because I found some real quick."

Study for Barnes involved reading everything he could on his specialist subjects and then trying to predict what they might ask. "There was a lot of colour coding on cards."

When asked what he thinks were the keys to his success, Barnes says it was important that he was passionate about his topics. "I think if you're not looking forward to studying every night, it's going to be a struggle. You also have to have a plan and work smart, not just hard. Then, try and figure out what sort of questions they will ask you."

What about when you're actually in the chair? "Just relax and treat it for what it is – a game."

Barnes says he's still waiting for the Mastermind "sculpture" and chair and admits he can't quite remember how comfortable the latter was to sit in.

"I wasn't thinking about my bottom at the time, I was just trying to engage with the questions." 

As for his next step, Barnes plans to email Mastermind producers about whether there will be an opportunity to compete in an international "champions" version (as was the case in the 1980s), or return to defend his New Zealand title. "Although, I don't know if I would want to put myself forward again anyway," he says.

He definitely will however, continue to be a regular at Havelock North's Rose & Shamrock Village Inn's monthly quiz night and hopefully will no longer be mocked by his students for one question he got wrong in the heats.

"It was about Prince Tui Teka.They all pretended they knew, when, really, it was their parents who knew. That was quite funny."