Journalist and broadcaster Quentin Letts will be taking Hereford Cathedral as his specialist subject when he appears on the Christmas edition of BBC Celebrity Mastermind on 10 January.

Letts lives in the diocese of Hereford and is a worshipper at How Caple parish church and at the cathedral, describing himself as a "middle-stump Anglican, frequently prey to doubts but frequently comforted by church visits - and an enthusiastic blaster-outer of the great hymns of the CofE".

In addition to regularly attending church, Letts is a columnist with the diocesan newspaper and is an active member of the Hereford Diocese branch of the Prayer Book Society. 

"We are delighted that Quentin chose to take the cathedral for his specialist round," said Glyn Morgan, Chief Executive of Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust. "It will be tremendous coverage for the cathedral and, as Quentin has generously donated his appearance fee to the Trust, we will be getting our own Christmas present!"

Letts, who is a political sketchwriter and theatre critic for the Daily Mail, said: "England's cathedrals are among our greatest architectural and cultural gems, and they do not come much more glorious than Hereford's. I am glad to have been able in a tiny way to support the cathedral at Christmas - although Mastermind was a nerve-wracking ordeal for an intellectual plodder like me."

The show has already been recorded and Letts was up against the actress and singer Clare Grogan, the paralympic champion Richard Whitehead and the singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner, although he is staying tightlipped about who won.