Daren Barnes

Daren Barnes Octochamp Statistics
Final position	Quarter-finalist
Seeding	6
Points total	719
Conundrums solved	6

Daren Barnes in Series 86.

Daren Barnes was an octochamp and quarter-finalist in Series 86. At the time of the recording of his shows, he was a supermarket duty manager from East Wittering, West Sussex.

Debuting in the second show of the series, Barnes edged Steven Etherington to end Etherington's run in his eighth game. After surviving a very good comeback by June Knott and close competition set by Apterite Graham Harrison, Barnes achieved a personal best of 103 in his sixth game, before seeing off his eighth opponent to become the first octochamp of the series. He averaged just under 90 points per game and correctly solved six conundrums, all between one and five seconds, three of which were crucial.

Barnes returned for the finals as the sixth seed, where he faced off against Quinn Bartlett in the third quarter-final. Despite taking an 11-point lead early on, with Bartlett having dilutor ☓ disallowed and a spot of BESTOW in Round 5 coming from Barnes, he was eventually overpowered by Bartlett's particularly impressive numbers performance, with Bartlett also spotting words like RURALITE in Round 10. This meant Barnes suffered his only defeat, finishing with a final total of 792 points and an average of 88 points a game across his run.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
7788	21/06/2022	P	Steven Etherington	78 – 84	Daren Barnes	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Robert Rinder		none	125
7789	22/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	85 – 50	Laurence Freeman	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Robert Rinder		none	135
7790	23/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	94 – 68	Paul Moore	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Phil Spencer	Susie Dent	125
7791	24/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	85 – 77	June Knott	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Phil Spencer	Susie Dent	134
7792	27/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	99 – 94	Graham Harrison	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Phil Spencer	Susie Dent	132
7793	28/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	103 – 57	Martin Colbert	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Phil Spencer	Susie Dent	121
7794	29/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	82 – 67	Richard Wagler	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Phil Spencer	Susie Dent	121
7795	30/06/2022	P	Daren Barnes	87 – 64	Chris Canham	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Christopher Biggins	Susie Dent	137
7917	19/12/2022	QF	Quinn Bartlett	108 – 73	Daren Barnes	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Neil Delamere	Susie Dent	134