University Challenge winners: Victorious Peterhouse team pose with bottles of booze after raiding college bar

Victors: Julian Sutcliife, Oscar Powell and Hannah Rose Woods celebrate their win
Hannah Rose Woods/‎@hannahrosewoods

Hannah Woods - whose “arch” eyebrow, print knitwear and encyclopaedic IQ captivated University Challenge viewers as she led her team to victory - has the potential to earn millions if she capitalises on her new-found fame, a leading PR expert said today.

History PhD student Ms Woods last night led Cambridge’s Peterhouse College in a comprehensive 215 to 30 points demolition of St John’s, Oxford, in what host Jeremy Paxman called “another storming performance.”

The feat marked a third consecutive win for Cambridge over Oxford.

Following the historic victory, three of team posed for a picture after raiding the college bar. Ms Woods tweeted the snap with the caption: "We found the store room for the college bar."

As well as the coveted trophy, Ms Woods’s withering stare and naturally arched left eyebrow has won her a cult following on social media, a marriage proposal and the “amazing” support of former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore.

As the only female remaining in the highbrow BBC2 quiz show she is now in position to convert her sudden celebrity into a lucrative career.

PR guru Mark Borkowski, who has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to Mikhail Gorbachev, told the Standard that with the right team behind her she could make “millions”.

He said: “It just shows in the age of visual messages and the gif generation just how iconic something like a raised eyebrow can be. You can become an internet sensation overnight.

“If she has a good licensing lawyer, who can grasp the opportunity, she could certainly make enough money to pay for her university education.

“You could see her turning up on quiz shows and chat shows. American late night chat shows love that sort of person.

“She could make a lot of money through personal appearances. She’s got such a distinct look - it’s all down to licensing an image.

“If someone came along and did the right deals to have that image nailed for rights she could never have to work again.”

However, her university supervisor Professor Peter Mandler said he expects she will pursue a career in academia.

Oscar Powell's facial expressions on University Challenge

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He told the Standard: “I’m very proud of Hannah.

“She’s just a very educated and outward person. She has a real poker face most of the time – as cool as a cucumber, but there are little betrayals made by the curvature of her eyebrows.

“Every episode I write to her and say how did you know that? She’s got character – she’s way older than her chronological age and has real maturity of mind.”

Woods, who is concentrating on completing her PhD, Woods has replied to fans’ suggestions she should consider presenting TV documentaries, appear in Game Of Thrones or playing the next Bond villain by saying: “I’d just like to make it clear to anyone in charge of casting how very available I am.”

Despite her newfound celebrity status Miss Woods apparently had more traditional concerns on her mind in the wake of last night’s triumph.

Minutes after millions of viewers watched her collect the trophy in the pre-recorded final, she posted a photograph of herself alongside geology student Oscar Powell and fellow historian Julian Sutcliffe arms filled with bottles of spirits.

She wrote: “Update: we found the store room for the college bar.”

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