Justin Shanahan said he was always “bottom of the class”
Justin Shanahan said he was always “bottom of the class”
17:40, 31 Jan 2026
A Liverpool man, who was told he was thick at school, has discovered he is actually in the top 2% of the smartest people in the world. Justin Shanahan, who lives in Walton, appears on the new Channel 4 series, Secret Genius, which aims to put the spotlight on the nation’s undiscovered intellectuals.
The new programme, which is hosted by Alan Carr and Susie Dent, sees contestants from all over the UK take on a variety of logic challenges that test their brain power. Justin is one of two people from Merseyside to be competing on Secret Genius, which premieres tomorrow at 9pm.
The Scouser is proud to be involved as he told the ECHO he has come a long way from his time at school when he was never considered to be academic. The 60-year-old said: “I wouldn’t say I was thick at school, but I was always bottom of the class.
“All the teachers would bypass me and didn’t give me what I needed so I just drifted through because I’ve got a very short attention span. I’d be sitting there and think I’m going to listen to the teachers but then I’d be distracted by stupid things so I struggled at school.”
Justin said he suffers with many symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), which was a bad combination with the prescriptive methods of the 1970s education system when little was known about the condition.
Although he hailed from an academic family and his dad was a doctor, Justin took five attempts to pass his O-Levels and left school with one grade D at A-Level, which dented his confidence. He added: “I remember when I done my O-Levels, we were sat on the beach on holiday in Cornwall and my mum was talking to friends we saw very year down there.
“My mum’s actual words to this person were: ‘Justin has just done his O-Levels, which he’s bound to fail so I don’t know what he’ll do next.’ That was the expectation people had of me and I remember being a bit upset by that, but at the same time that was just normal because everyone was telling me that.”
After leaving St Edward’s College, Justin, who grew up in Cressington, wanted to travel and was advised to pursue a career in nursing as this was an in demand career in other countries. It was during his travels in America when he realised he wasn’t as stupid as his teachers made out as he could always retain facts and information about the places he was visiting.
He carried this burgeoning confidence into his career and excelled in the practical environment of nursing before he moved into teaching at the University of Liverpool where he now lectures medical students on clinical skills. Being on the other side of the classroom gave him a new perspective about how people learn, which made him realise just why he was unable to flourish at school.
He added: “There are various degrees of measuring intelligence. The worst thing is I got streamlined and got told how to learn. I wanted to do history and geography [at O-Level], but then was told that I had to do something else so did French and Spanish instead.
“I got kicked out of one and got a grade U in the other. That’s why I did Spanish GCSE years later [at night school as an adult]. I wanted to prove I could do it.”
Justin has more than proved his intelligence as he now has a Masters and is a confirmed member of Mensa with a whopping IQ of 156, which puts him in the top 2% of the general population. Away from work, Justin has also developed into a keen quizzer and The Secret Genius isn’t his first TV appearance.
He previously competed on The Chase, when he was just three seconds away from walking away with the cash prize. Justin’s desire to push out of his comfort zone and test his wits on television derives from serious circumstances as he gained a new perspective of life when he was diagnosed with cancer and his wife had her own health scare.
On his cancer battle, the Scouser noticed something dangling down the back of his throat, which was later diagnosed as plasmacytoma. He said: “It sounds really bizarre but [the diagnosis] was almost a sigh of relief. I knew what was going on now so I thought let’s just treat it.”
Justin was given five years left to live after the diagnosis, but has managed to defy the prognosis as he’s still healthy and full of life 15 years later. He said this resilience is emblematic of his Liverpudlian roots, as the city teaches you the importance of staying strong in dark times.
He added: “The city has been through so much, so we’re strong and you’re thick skinned. You learn to look after yourself.”
Justin is now looking forward to the next chapter with his wife, as he is set to retire from his job later this year. He added: “I want to keep myself and keep myself active and spend time with my wife, she’s the most important thing in the world to me so I just want us to have a long and happy retirement together.”
Before then, his second TV appearance is on the horizon when Secret Genius arrives on screens tomorrow. Justin is nervous about how he comes off on the show, but he has nothing to fear.
Wherever he gets in the contest, he can be proud that he has sent an inspiring message that everyone’s mind is different and you should never let what others say about you get in the way of fulfilling your own potential.
He said: “Whoever you are, you’ll have areas that interest you. If you’re from this city and are a Red or a Blue, and you can name all the players from either team, that is clever.
“The smartest person in the world probably couldn’t name you the Everton or Liverpool XI in the Derby this year, but a hell of a lot of Scousers can.”
Secret Genius airs on Channel 4 tomorrow at 9pm
