\'Eggheads\' star Dave Rainford has died.
The champion quizzer - who was nicknamed Tremendous Knowledge Dave - has passed away at the age of 51, show host Jeremy Vine confirmed on Twitter.
The presenter posted: "I\'m very sad to hear that one of the Eggheads has died. Dave "Tremendous Knowledge" Rainford, famous for being banned from pub quiz machines in Manchester, was the best company after a recording: always fun and sociable.
"I never saw him angry or ungenerous, not once."
Fellow Egghead Lisa Thiel shared a touching tribute to her pal on Twitter.
She wrote in a series of tweets: "When I filmed my first block of #eggheads in 2014, I met the other Eggs in the bar before going to dinner. Dave turned round from the bar, huge smile on face, pint in hand. \'Dave Rainford, really nice to meet you.\'
That was Dave all over. He always knew exactly the right thing to say to put someone at ease, to smooth over an awkward situation, to make you feel that talking to you was the greatest moment of his day.
"He wasn\'t a perfect human - as he\'d have been the first to admit - but as a mate and a colleague, he was damn, damn close. I\'ve never met anyone else with Dave\'s absolute likeability and it\'s my privilege to have known and worked with him.
"Now excuse me - I\'m in tears. When I\'ve finished crying, I\'m going to toast Dave with a hot curry and a drink. Then I\'m going to get an agent, because Dave never stopped telling me I should make more of this telly thing. Thank you for all the good words mate. I love you."
Among others to pay tribute to Dave was fellow quizzer Paul Sinha, who is a regular on \'The Chase\'.
He tweeted: "Devastated at the loss of my friend, David Rainford. Egghead, great bloke, great friend. We had blindingly good nights out mate. X."
Fellow chaser Anne Hegerty posted: "Very sad to learn that Tremendous Knowledge Dave Rainford of #Eggheads has died. One of the nicest people I ever knew. Never a bad word about anyone."
Dave revealed last year he had been battling a mystery illness that had kept him off the show when fans questioned why he didn\'t appear in promotional images for a new series.
He said: "Brand new Eggheads starting on Monday. I was still recuperating when these programmes were recorded, but I can promise you that there are some great shows coming up with excellent challengers that will keep you on the edge of your seats. Keep watching."
The brainbox became a regular on the BBC show after taking over from CJ de Mooi in 2012, in part after catching producers\' attention when he won £250,000 on \'Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?\' in 2006.
