Child Genius viewers brand winner Rahul’s ‘pushy’ father ‘disrespectful’ after he grabs trophy out of his son’s hands

The parent’s behaviour was just too much for some 

Viewers have criticised the father of the Child Genius 2017 champion for being ‘disrespectful’ after he was seen laughing at a nine-year-old contestant who got an answer wrong and grabbing his son’s trophy out of his hands.

Rahul, 12 from North London, was crowned winner of the contest after beating his opponent Ronan in a general knowledge buzzer round.

But viewers felt his victory was tarnished by the behaviour of his father Minesh, who was spotted smiling and laughing when Ronan missed out on the correct answer to a maths calculation by one number.

Later, after Rahul had been presented with the trophy, his father came under criticism once more for appearing to grab the prize out of his son’s hands so that he could raise it aloft.

'Pushy': Rahul's father was seen laughing after his son's opponent Ronan answered a question wrong 
Channel 4

Fans of the show slated the parent, calling him ‘disrespectful’ for celebrating Ronan’s wrong answer.

Others felt that his lifting of the trophy proved he wanted to win more than his son.

During the competition Minesh had encouraged Rahul to see the other children as rivals rather than friends, telling him: “There are no prizes for being friendly with your opponents.”

​Minesh also hinted that despite being too old to take part in Child Genius, we might be seeing him on another TV game show sometime soon.

“The kids want me to go on The Chase as I know all the answers,” he told the Sunday Times.

Child Genius returns to Channel 4 in 2017.

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