A LLANDUNO resident appeared on the BBC Radio 2 quiz PopMaster last week without realising that his opponent was, in fact, a distant relative of his.

Tim Hayman, a courier delivering electrical products across North Wales, was beaten 18-9 on the show by Ian Butterfield from Doncaster on Wednesday, January 19.

But shortly after the quiz ended, Tim received a phone call from his uncle telling him that he and Ian are second cousins.

Tim, 50, has since got back in touch with Ian, and the two plan to soon meet up in person for the first time.

The story also got a mention by PopMaster host Ken Bruce on his show the following day.

Tim, who is also a self-taught guitarist, said: “There’s a PopMaster Facebook group where you post about when you’re going on the show, so I had seen my opponent for that day on there, but never thought we were related.

“So I went on the show, played against Ian, and then 10 minutes later, my uncle David from Nottingham phoned and said: ‘You’re actually related; the pair of you’. It turned out our mums are cousins, which makes us second cousins!

“From then on, we’ve kept in touch. It’s a small world; it was just a complete coincidence. It got a mention on the show the following day, because Ian had emailed in and told the story to Ken.

“I’ve never met him before in my life! All being well in the not too distant future, we’ll have a family reunion as well.”

Though he was disappointed to lose to Ian, Tim admitted that this pleasant surprise took the edge off the defeat somewhat.

Since the show, they have been busy sharing family memories, and have bonded over their mutual love of music.

Tim added: “I enjoyed the experience. It was a bit nerve-wracking, and I was disappointed that I lost, but obviously, this softened the blow slightly.

“I messaged Ian congratulating him on his win, and then said: ‘By the way, we’re related!’ We put a few names of old relatives who’ve been and gone in the mix and just took it from there.

“He’s a big music fan and so am I, so we seem to have quite a bit in common. We’re just communicating over Facebook at the moment, sharing old photos.

“His sister attended my mum and dad’s wedding back in the 1960s, so I’ve been in touch with my mum and she’s got the old pictures out.

“He was a bit shocked; it was a bit of shock to both of us, to be honest, but pleased that we found each other after all this time.”

You can listen back to Tim and Ian’s PopMaster appearance at: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0013jl5 (starts at 58 minutes).