A UNIVERSITY Challenge contestant charged with raping a fellow student told police he was sexually inexperienced and he had left the woman "disappointed", a jury heard.

Bartholomeo Joly de Lotbiniere, 21, denies raping the undergraduate at York University in June 2014, saying sex was consensual.

The woman has told the jury how Joly de Lotbiniere came into her room in the halls of residence after they had been on a night out and then had sex with her as she tried to push him off.

She went to the police more than a year on from the alleged offence after Joly de Lotbiniere had appeared on University Challenge.

The defendant, of Kensal Rise, London, was arrested and told detectives he kissed the woman in the corridor and they went on to have sex in her bed.

But he did not have a strong erection, he told police.

He told police: "We fumbled around for a bit but it didn't amount to anything. "She said 'You are not very good at this'."

It was the second time he had sex, he said in his interview, having lost his virginity two or three months before.

He denied he said "pretend this never happened" as he left her room.

He told the police: "No. I could see it was not working out.

"I didn't say anything, I just left the room realising it was not going to work out.

"My penis was not working, she was disappointed.

"I didn't say that."

He denied telling the student he had fantasised about her, telling officers: "I didn't have any sort of attraction to her before, it was just a spur of the moment thing because of the kiss."

The jury has heard how, two days after the incident, the woman texted Joly de Lotbiniere and said: "I thought I'd let you know I wasn't overly comfortable with what happened on Thursday night."

The prosecutor said that Joly de Lotbiniere replied: "Neither am I.

"I was a disgrace, I did a very stupid thing and I am very sorry for what I did.

"I just hope you can forgive me at some point.

"I'll try not to act like a bloody 14-year-old again and start acting my age. Sorry."

He explained to police that meant he "felt ashamed because I was so inexperienced, that I couldn't properly have sex with her."

After he was charged he told police: "These are horrible, horrible lies.

"I'm willing to co-operate with anybody who wants to ask any questions at any time, as I have done from the start.

"This is wrong."

The jury at York Crown Court heard he will give evidence this afternoon.

Earlier, the complainant's best friend told the jury the student was "really upset" the morning after the alleged incident.

"I have never seen her like that before," she said.

"Because this was only eight hours after, she was obviously still processing it.

"She was just very upset and very anxious."

Joly de Lotbiniere denies rape and sexual assault.

UNIVERSITY Challenge contestant Bartholomeo Joly de Lotbiniere's brush with social media fame was mentioned to the jury during his rape trial.

There was reference to a tweet by Pointless host Richard Osman, who had been watching the York history undergraduate's appearance on the BBC2 show and given his name "10/10".

The 21-year-old defendant told the jury at York Crown Court that he appeared on University Challenge six times when he was in his second year, having been a reserve when he was in his first year.

Joly de Lotbiniere told the jury he was the oldest of three children born in Brent, north-west London, and went to the comprehensive Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School.

His mother was a psychologist working with autistic children and his father was an editor, he said.

He scored all As or A* in his GCSEs and A-levels, he said, and chose to study in York because he liked its historic buildings.

He graduated last year with a 2:1 and was now taking a Masters at UCL in London.