Jay Bobby Seagull is a mathematics teacher and writer. He appeared on the television programme University Challenge in 2017, and in 2018 on Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain. His first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers, was published in 2019.
Whilst working at East London Science School, Seagull was made captain of the Emmanuel College University Challenge team. During the competition he was praised for his enthusiasm, and his name started to trend on Twitter. He met Eric Monkman in the semi-final, where Monkman's team (Wolfson College) won. Whilst the pair started as rivals, they went on to form a friendship and began broadcasting together.
Seagull and Monkman were given their own radio show, Monkman and Seagull's Polymathematical Adventure, in 2017. Seagull and Monkman co-hosted their first television series, Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain, in 2018. In the show, the pair travelled the United Kingdom to identify Britain's technological achievements. In 2020 they followed up with Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures.
In 2019 Seagull became an advocate for investment in public libraries, working with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) to front the 'Libraries Deliver' campaign as a national 'Library Champion'. In 2020, Seagull was awarded Honorary Fellowship of CILIP.
Seagull has appeared on the YouTube channel Football Daily on a number of occasions, specifically in their Stat Wars series. He has also participated as a panelist on the BBC Radio 4 discussion programme Any Questions?.
In 2021, he and quiz expert Frank Paul became the resident "trappers" on the Channel 4 game show The Answer Trap. Their role is to create plausible-sounding but wrong answers to questions asked of the contestants, which are hidden among the genuine responses.
