University Challenge host Amol Rajan vows to change way he pronounces the letter H after barrage of complaints - are YOU saying it wrong?

University Challenge host Amol Rajan has vowed to change the way he pronounces the letter H following a barrage of complaints.

The BBC broadcaster, who has completed his first year of presenting the popular quiz show, has decided to finally give in after years of being unsure whether the letter is pronounced 'haitch' or 'aitch'.

'All my life I've pronounced it 'haitch', dimly aware that I was getting it 'wrong', he confessed in a BBC blog about the seven things he has learnt since he took over Jeremy Paxman as University Challenge host.

Rajan, who also co-presents Today on Radio 4, added: 'Everyone I grew up with says 'haitch'. My mates say 'haitch'. But, dear reader, I'm here to tell you: it's 'aitch'.

'This matters a lot to a lot of people, which is fair enough.'

Rajan, who hails from south London, has reignited the 'H' debate which has divided Brits up and down the country for many years. 

Fellow BBC broadcasters who say 'haitch' include Sara Cox, from Bolton, and Nick Grimshaw, from Oldham.

Television hosts ­Graham Norton, from Bandon, Co Cork, and Dara O'Briain, from Bray, Co Wicklow, have also chosen not to defect. 

Rajan said he would start using 'aitch' from the next series of University Challenge despite the Oxford English Dictionary declaring 'haitch' is a commonly used variant.

The BBC pronunciation unit sates that 'aitch' is the standard British English pronunciation and that 'haitch' is standard across Ireland and a possible British variant. It does not say which is correct.

Rajan has also previously revealed he struggles with questions that feature French words, often needing a few takes to get the pronunciation right.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'French is both the one I find hardest, because I never studied French, and the one I think people watching BBC Two at 8.30pm on a Monday night care about. So we do the odd retake for the French ones.' 

In the past, campaigners have called on the BBC to only hire presenters who can use language correctly. It came after complaints were made about Cox and Grimshaw mispronouncing 'H'.

Gareth Hardwick, former secretary of the Queen's English Society, said in 2014: 'With the BBC in particular, it is listened to by a worldwide audience and people for whom English is a second language look to the BBC for an example of what is good English.

'There are a whole number of reasons why the BBC might choose to recruit someone onto its staff as a broadcaster and maybe the use of English should be one and BBC broadcasters should be people to aspire to good, correct English usage'.

Rajan did not reveal why he has chosen to change the way he says H but he has been criticised on social media and in newspapers.

Geoff Carr, a Sunday Times reader, wrote into the paper to say: 'I agree that the proliferation of 'haitches' is truly awful. Amol Rajan on University Challenge (BBC2) sounds like a small child. Where has this come from? 'Aitch' is far easier to say and ­kinder on the ear.'

One user on X, formerly Twitter, said: 'Amol Rajan doing a great job on #UniversityChallenge, but he's described the 8th letter of the alphabet as 'haitch' 2 weeks running now. This sort of thing must be nipped in the bud…'

Another said: 'Why do so many people now pronounce the letter 'H' as 'haitch', including Amol Rajan on #r4today? It's Horrible with a capital aitch.' 

A third wrote: 'Why can’t Amol Rajan pronounce “H” correctly? Is he doing it on purpose?'

And a fourth posted: 'Didn't Amol Rajan ever learn that the eighth letter of the alphabet is Aitch, not "H"aitch?' 

Another social media post about Cox said: 'Love Sara Cox but please the letter H is not pronounced with an H. The sound of the letter H is AITCH,. Come on BBC ......' 

Despite attacks on his pronunciation, Rajan has also been praised for his first year at University Challenge - with some calling him the show's 'best ever' presenter on social media.

One fan gushed last month: 'Possibly controversial but Amol Rajan is my favourite University Challenge quizmaster - and I’ve watched it since the 1960s.'