Presenter tells how her relationship with Davies is different from his with Stephen Fry, and reveals her passion for boxing

For years he has been admonished by Stephen Fry for failing to grasp even the most simple brainteasers on QI, but the show’s new presenter Sandi Toksvig has revealed that Alan Davies is far from the dunce he portrays.

Toksvig, the first woman to host a major UK comedy panel show, told ITV’s Lorraine: “He gets it. It’s an act. I have to say he’s one of the cleverest, most charming people I have ever worked with.”

She said her relationship with Davies, who has been a team captain on the BBC programme since it began, would be different from the one the Jonathan Creek star had with Fry.

“He and I honestly have a little bit more of a love fest,” she said. “I like him very much and what he brings to the show. It’s that proper combination of entertainment and information.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Davies and Toksvig on QI. Photograph: BBC/Brian Ritchie/Talkback

The presenter told how she had to ask for a bigger chair after taking over from Fry on the BBC show, in which she makes her debut as host later this month.

Sandi Toksvig's QI: 'I'm not here as a mini-me for Stephen Fry' Read more

“Stephen is 6ft 3in and I’m not,” she said. “They had to put up a little platform. I seriously had to climb up on to a platform. They are talking now about the next series and asked me: ‘Is there anything you would like to change? And I said: ‘I wouldn’t mind a chair that fits.’”

Toksvig also revealed that she has shed four stone after taking up boxing, and said she believed the sport offered a good way for people to learn skills to defend themselves against domestic violence.

“I’m absolutely obsessed with boxing,” she said. “I was thinking I should try and box [the Olympic champion] Nicola Adams for a laugh. It would be funny.

“Boxing … is a fantastic defence against domestic violence, and not because they’re going to punch back but because it gives them confidence and it gives them the strength to say: ‘Actually, you’re not going to treat me like that.’”

Fry stepped down as host of QI after 13 years in the role, saying it was “one of the best jobs on television” but that he felt it was time to move on.