LONDON, March 2019: A 12-year-old girl with an IQ higher than Albert Einstein was crowned the winner of Channel 4’s Child Genius 2019 on 3 March after impressing with her exceptional spelling.
Several British newspapers praised Nishi Uggalle, from Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, who was dubbed the ‘human calculator,’ and ‘Britain’s brightest child’ after correctly spelling the word neurohypophysis to run away with the title.
Her Sri Lankan parents, father Neelanga Uggalle, who works in IT security and is a Vice President in Barclays Bank, and her mother Shiromi Jayasinghe who works as an accountant, watched on from the audience, as their daughter spelt her way into the history books. Her parents moved to Manchester from Sri Lanka in 2001. Nishi is studying at Withington Girls’ School and starts at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls in September.
The Daily Mail quoted dad Neelanga, 44, as saying: ‘We knew very early on that she was gifted. She started reading and writing very early and became very good at mathematics. We gave her challenging, interesting things to do. As a parent, you do not want their talents to be wasted, but there has to be a balance with their childhood.
“She is just a normal 10-year-old, just like any other 10-year-old really. She loves reading, cycling and walking, and we’re all very proud of her.
The Stephen Hawking superfan inspired Channel 4 viewers with her feminist attitude, and used her acceptance speech to celebrate women in science, technology, engineering and mathematic subjects. She gave an inspiring acceptance speech that touched heart’s across the nation. Explaining her reason for entering the intelligence competition, the genius told the audience:
“One of the main reasons I entered myself in the competition was to show that there are a lot of stereotypes about girls not being able to do maths or physics for example,’ she began. “I’d like to show that that’s not true at all”.
I was clapping when Nishi won,’ enthused one viewer. ‘So deserved, self-motivated and excellent,’ while another added: ‘I sat gobsmacked watching Nishi on Child Genius. She was wonderful. Well done to her.’
And viewers were stunned by the little girl’s attitude. ‘You’re a star and inspiration to all young girls!’ one commended the youngster. ‘Some of the other contestants could have learned from your humanity.’
Another simply penned: ‘Bravo Nishi absolutely deserved. As you’ve proved – this girl can.’
Hundreds of children applied from across the UK, with a total of 19 appearing across the Channel 4 programme. When Nishi initially put herself forward for the competition, her parents admitted: ‘I don’t think we call ourselves pushy parents simply because I think Nishi is the pushy one.’
When she became eligible to take the high IQ society’s test, she achieved the highest possible score of 162 — topping brainbox Albert Einstein’s 160.
And the determined youngster declared: “I’m going to show girls they can win things and do anything they want to,” the young girl said as she started the process. And she did just that as the well-deserved praise for the 12-year-old continued late into the evening.
“Most people probably think that maths is a boy’s subject specifically but I definitely think that’s not true,” she said.
Sharing her experience filming for the show, Uggalle was quoted in her hometown Manchester Evening News as saying it was a “new challenge” to compete against the best in the country.
She said: “I think Child Genius has definitely been the largest-scale and most challenging competition I have ever taken part in.
“It’s completely different to any school experience; I attend a grammar school so all the students are incredibly talented, but to be competing against the best in the country was a new challenge.
“Overall, I loved the experience, and made great friends with the other competitors. I think it was also interesting for my mum and dad to meet some parents of other gifted children.”
The contest, open to children aged from eight to 12, and aired every week, culminated in the grand final with competitors challenged on spelling, maths, memory, vocabulary, geography and science. Displaying an astonishing level of general knowledge, Nishi answered questions that would stump most adults to take the title.
Nishi hopes to be a theoretical physicist at Cambridge, like her idol Stephen Hawking. Aside from the hours of reading intellectual books and dedication, Nishi is a normal teenager who argues with her mum. Dad Neelanga teases his daughter and calls her a geek, which Nishi agrees to: “I am a geek. I’m proud to be one. It used to be a derogatory term but I think it’s a positive now. Some of the most successful people in the world were geeks, like Bill Gates.”
