Nahyan Chowdhury didn't think that following his passion was possible
Nahyan Chowdhury has featured on a new BBC TV series
Nahyan Chowdhury has featured on a new BBC TV series(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A man’s life changed after getting a phone call on holiday. For the last few weeks, Nahyan Chowdhury, 25, from Wavertree, has featured on new BBC show Last Pundit Standing.
The Apprentice-style series has followed 12 football fans battling it out to win the chance to work for BBC Sport. The BBC have collaborated with TikTok on the series, which sees the up-and-coming pundits making original football content. Each week has a new task, including analysing matches, making a football podcast and interviewing a manager.
Nahyan has delighted viewers in recent weeks, including hitting the crossbar in a crossbar challenge at Goodison Park and explaining to the non-Scousers what 110s are. In the final episode released this morning, it was revealed that he had won the show.
However, when Nahyan was growing up, he never felt that working in football was an option to him. Speaking to the ECHO today, he said: “My parents didn’t really watch football. I think it helped with Stevie (Gerrard) and being part of that comeback in Istanbul. Every kid wanted to be him.
“I loved sports and science, but culturally, you never really think that you can have a career in football, especially as a South Asian. Back when I was growing up, I didn’t see South Asian footballers, so I just went towards science.
“In my day to day job, I'm a synthetic chemist. I make peptides for tuberculosis testing kits, cancer research, ozempic, things like that. I never really thought about getting into the media.”
This changed when Nahyan, who follows Liverpool home and away, saw the reds face AC Milan last season in the Champions League. The Reds beat the Italian side 3-1.
After Liverpool's victory, Nahyan’s friend sent him footage of supporters of AC’s arch rivals Inter Milan chanting for Liverpool on a plane to the UK. After sharing it online, the post went viral and caught the attention of a social media producer from broadcaster TNT Sports, who asked if they could share it on their channels.
Nahyan said: “The guy who runs it is from Liverpool himself and supports Everton. We were just speaking about sports media and I talked about how I'm a big sports fan - boxing UFC, the lot. Then a few months later, a producer from TNT wanted to find a Scouser who would interview a Liverpool player. He sent me that and I said, I'm 100% down.”
Nahyan got the break and ended up interviewing both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in December 2024, which went well after a nervous start.
Nahyan interviewed Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson last year for TNT Sports
Nahyan interviewed Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson last year for TNT Sports
He said: “I'm a 25-year-old man but at that moment I felt like a little kid. To be fair to both of them, I was so nervous starting off but they put me at ease. I would've moved on after that, but then I was like, you know what, I loved it and I want a bit more of it.”
A month later, applications opened for Last Pundit Standing. Nahyan wasn’t confident at first as he didn’t have a back catalogue of self-made content. But he managed to put a showreel together from clips from other channels, which included him asking questions to UFC fighters as well as the interview with Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.
Nahyan wasn't successful but was placed on the reserve list until he got a phone call on a holiday in Morocco. He said: “I was on reserve initially and then someone dropped out. I was Marrakesh and I got a call saying, do you want to be part of the show? So I had to leave my family holiday and fly back the next day.”
Within 24 hours, Nahyan was hitting the crossbar on the Goodison Park pitch as part of a challenge and this helped him settle in.
He said: ”On the first filming day I was a bit overwhelmed because I did feel a little bit out of place. I’d never been in that environment and some of the content creators had met each other before.
“When you're from Liverpool, you've got a big personality anyway and I think hitting the crossbar helped. You get a little respect from them and you just grow throughout the show.
“My personality came out more. I think the best thing about being on the show is just meeting everyone and being able to learn from them.”
After each challenge, participants were given points. In the final episode, released today, Nahyan finished top and was crowned the winner.
On how that felt, Nahyan said: ”I was very emotional. I dropped to my knees and cried because I never expected myself to be on the show, to get to the final, and then to actually win it. It was loads of my emotions just combined together. At that moment, I just knew that I had got my foot in the door in this industry.
“I still like my current job, I still like science but sports is my genuine, real passion. I could speak about it for hours on end. It brings a different side of me out.”
The episode was filmed on May 17, meaning Nahyan had to keep his victory secret from everyone for months on end. Nahyan said: “That’s the day I knew I’d won and I've kept it a secret since.
“Not even my mum knows, none of my family or friends know. They knew nothing about what happened on the show, I didn't tell them a thing, so everything has come as a surprise per episode.
“I've got a watch party with friends and family tonight, so they're staying off social media so they don't get it spoiled for them.
“I've made sure to keep it a secret, so hopefully now they don’t get it spoiled for them. Keeping a secret was easy to be fair, no one could get it out of me.”
Nahyan fell in love with football after watching Liverpool's heroic victory in the 2005 Champions League final
Nahyan fell in love with football after watching Liverpool's heroic victory in the 2005 Champions League final
As Nahyan prepares to start contributing for BBC Sport alongside his job in science, he hopes his journey can be an example to others. He said: “It’s life changing. You don't see many South Asians in football media.
“The older generations don't really see that as a stable career. I want to show to people that you can, even in your mid-twenties, change careers and follow you through your passions and show that there is a pathway into sports media.
“Whether you are a footy, boxing, cricket fan, you can work on it. I want to be that role model for Scousers as well who think there’s nothing out there for them.”
You can follow Nahyan’s work here. All episodes of Last Pundit Standing are available to stream now via BBC iPlayer, TikTok and BBC Sport’s YouTube channel.