Paddy McGuinness replaces Sue Barker as A Question of Sport host

Paddy McGuinness

Top Gear presenter Paddy McGuinness is to replace Sue Barker as host of BBC game show A Question of Sport.

The star, who is also known for Take Me Out and I Can See Your Voice, said taking the hot seat on the long-running quiz was "an honour and opportunity I'm certainly not taking lightly".

The programme will also get two new team captains for its 51st series.

Hockey player Sam Quek and rugby star Ugo Monye will take over from Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell.

Dawson joined the show in 2004, followed by Tufnell in 2005, while Barker had been in the host's chair since 1996.

McGuinness, 47, said he grew up watching the programme when it was hosted by David Vine and then David Coleman, but it was former tennis player Barker who "made this show her own".

"She will always be A Question of Sport icon, but I'll try my best to stamp my own mark on it," he said.

McGuinness has appeared as a panellist on a number of occasions and was also seen in a special programme to mark its 50th anniversary last year.

Quek, who won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, will be the first female team captain in the show's history.

"This really is my dream job," she said. "I've watched A Question of Sport since I was a little girl and my ambition to appear on the show came true five years ago - but I never thought that I would one day be a captain.

"And the first female captain in the show's 50-year history too."

Former England wing Monye said it was "an incredible honour" to become the other team captain. "It's a show I have watched my entire life, so to be named as a captain is truly humbling," he said.