YOUNG brainbox Jessica Colderley left the presenter of TV's Junior Mastermind red-faced when she corrected his history knowledge during filming.

The 11-year-old Bolton schoolgirl became the star of the BBC2 show with her quick-witted dressing-down of quizmaster John Humphrys.

The host attempted light banter between rounds with Jessica, whose chosen subject was the works of Jane Austen.

Asking her if she could imagine living in the Regency period, Jessica replied: "I don't really think so, no."

Humphrys, aged 61, added: "Nothing about it at all? You don't fancy yourself in a crinoline dress?"

To which Jessica, who remembered that crinoline only became fashionable in the 1830s, retorted: "No, because that was the Victorian times."

Television insiders say that the mistake had the show's production team in stitches.

The moment is being hailed as one of the main highlights of the show.

But Jessica said she was just making sure other people would not make the same mistake.

She said: "I remembered studying Victorian fashions in a school project, and knew he was wrong. I simply didn't want others to make the same mistake. I wasn't being cheeky."

The youngster picked the subject after learning about Jane Austen from her grandfather, an education consultant who teaches A-level students about the author.

She has read all Austen's books except one, and revised the subject by watching BBC adaptation's of her novels on DVD.

Jessica is set to appear on the programme alongside three other youngsters tackling subjects such as Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, and the history of the Grand National from 1990 to 2004.

She spent a day in London at the BBC studios for the shoot, but says she was not nervous.

Jessica said: "Once I sat in the big chair I was fine and all my nerves vanished. I had a fantastic time and managed to make a few new friends."

She will watch the programme, which is due to be broadcast on August Bank Holiday Monday at 7pm, with her grandparents and aunt while staying with relatives in Ipswich.

After filming the show, presenter Humphrys said: "I was gob-smacked by their intelligence. The scores in the specialist rounds were much higher on average than the adult version of Mastermind, it was extraordinary."

The result of the show, in which the youngsters compete to become the Junior Mastermind Champion, is being kept a closely guarded secret.