Pokémon master from Haywards Heath competes for £50,000 on Beauty and The Geek UK

Nitish Doolub, 35, is set to appear on Beauty and The Geek UK, a reboot of the popular series, which streams on discovery+ UK from Sunday, September 25.

Matt Edmondson and Mollie King host the show, which pairs up 16 singles from two different worlds and sets them challenges so they can avoid getting eliminated and win £50,000.

Nitish, an internal recruiter for an accountancy firm, said the programme was ‘a life-changing experience’ where he made friends for life.

“It was very unique to see how we came together and enjoyed each other’s company,” he said, adding that the contestants are from diverse backgrounds.

There is a 24-year-old entrepreneur with a funeral floristry business, a criminologist cheerleader, a cosplay superfan and a neuroscientist turned ‘bookstagrammer’.

Nitish said the original 2005 American show was inclined to ridicule the ‘geeks’ but this version embraces them.

“Society’s progressed and people are becoming more accepted,” he said.

“Being called a geek now can be related to pretty much anyone, everyone’s got their own quirks and traits.”

Nitish cannot reveal what the challenges are but he said the show pushed contestants out of their comfort zones.

But he said he loved the experience.

He said: “It shows how a team being thrown in the deep end can pretty much work with anyone if they’ve got the right attitude.”

Nitish, who was born in Cuckfield, attended St Wilfrid’s C of E Primary in Haywards Heath, as well as Warden Park and Ardingly College.

He got into Pokémon TCG when he was in school and kids were trading cards.

He revealed that he is now in the top 22 of Pokémon card game players in Europe.

Nitish’s success at the game allows him to live a ‘jet-setter’s lifestyle’, travelling abroad almost every other weekend, going to Australia, Brazil, the UAE, Europe, the US and Canada.

He has won a ‘significant amount’ of money and product too, having accumulated roughly £100,000 worth of Pokémon assets from his adventures.

These include exclusive, valuable cards and booster boxes, and his rank means that he gets most of his travel paid for.

Visit discoveryplus.co.uk to find out more.