Only Connect contestant sparks backlash after dismissing Twilight question as she says: “I’m grown up”

Only Connect viewers were left divided after contestant Kat Brown appeared to dismiss a question about Twilight, telling her teammate she was “grown up” and could not possibly know the answer.

The awkward exchange happened during the BBC Two quiz show as Brown and her teammates worked through the notoriously difficult Connecting Wall. The team had already identified some of the words when two surnames, Swan and Cullen, began to point towards the Twilight film series.

Brown’s reaction quickly became one of the talking points among viewers, with some accusing her of sounding dismissive when teammate Sara Benwell suggested the words were connected to the vampire romance franchise.

The episode aired on 21 November 2022, with Victoria Coren Mitchell presenting as the teams battled to find connections between seemingly unrelated clues.

The Twilight connection emerges

The team had successfully grouped half of the words when Benwell spotted something familiar in the surnames Swan and Cullen.

Those names belong to two of the central characters in Twilight: Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.

Benwell then identified Black as another possible clue, linking it to Jacob Black, the character played by Taylor Lautner in the film adaptations.

She suggested that the three names could form part of the final connection.

“Oh Swan, is from the same, they are all specifically from Twilight aren’t they?” Benwell said as she realised what the clues had in common.

Brown, however, did not immediately agree.

She shook her head and appeared unconvinced before responding to her teammate:

“I couldn’t possibly tell you that Sara, I’m grown up.”

The remark immediately caught the attention of viewers watching at home.

Some interpreted Brown’s response as a dig at the popularity of Twilight, while others saw it as an attempt at humour during the pressure of the game.

One viewer criticised what they saw as a “snobby” attitude, joking that Twilight was apparently “too low culture” for Brown.

Another viewer said they enjoyed watching the team potentially lose points because the captain had been so dismissive of the franchise.

A third described Brown’s response about not knowing Twilight as one of their favourite moments of the series.

Another viewer said the exchange between Brown and Benwell had made them laugh out loud.

Brown continues to question the answer

Benwell remained confident that the Twilight characters were the answer, but Brown was still reluctant to commit.

She argued that the team did not have enough information to be certain, leaving Benwell to continue making the case for the connection.

Eventually, however, the team successfully identified the correct connection.

The brief disagreement nevertheless became a much bigger talking point online, with viewers focusing on Brown’s apparent reluctance to acknowledge a franchise that had become a major part of popular culture.

Brown later addressed the reaction herself after some viewers accused her of being snobbish.

She explained that the comment had been intended as a joke and admitted that she had not remembered the books well enough to recognise the clues immediately.

“I was making a joke and came to regret it not least not having read the books since 2010.”

She later returned to the subject, acknowledging how much the moment had frustrated her teammate Sara Benwell.

“Nobody has been more sad than @sarabenwell over Taskmaster (which she adores) than me and my very silly Twilight joke 🙄 (I read them in 2010 and didn’t bloody remember).”

A memorable Only Connect moment

The exchange was particularly fitting for a programme where even the most familiar-looking clues can send contestants down the wrong path.

Only Connect asks teams to find links between apparently unrelated pieces of information, with contestants often having to resist committing to a connection until they are certain.

Brown was part of The Jillies, the team featured in the 2022-23 series. She later described appearing on the programme as a bucket-list achievement and said the team reached the quarter-finals.

The Jillies were competing alongside Sara Benwell, Mark Casarotto and Brown, with their appearance forming part of the show’s 18th series.

For Brown, the Twilight exchange ultimately became an unfortunate joke that followed her beyond the episode. Her explanation made clear that she was not claiming that the franchise was beneath her, but rather that she had simply forgotten enough of the books and did not immediately recognise the clues.

What began as a few seconds of hesitation during a Connecting Wall therefore became one of the episode’s most discussed moments, with viewers debating whether Brown’s comment was genuinely snobby or simply a joke that landed badly.