However, the Dunedin man will be quizzed not on his knowledge of the show, but on British Antarctic expeditions to the Ross Sea when he appears on the programme on Sunday.
Mr Barnes was a ‘‘massive'' fan of the original Mastermind New Zealand, which ran from the late 1976 to 1991, and he jumped at the chance to audition for the remake.
The quality assurance manager had a ‘‘good memory for a lot of rubbish''.
‘‘I have always been a fan of quiz shows. I think they are great and this one is simply about knowing more right answers than the other guy.''
He said he was ‘‘a bit of an Antarctic history buff'' and British Antarctic expeditions were a logical specialist subject choice.
‘‘A lot of what I know people will say is utterly useless trivia but it is a place that has always fascinated me from an early age.''
Mr Barnes' episode was filmed at the Auckland University Clocktower on Easter Monday, but he was sworn to secrecy about the result.
‘‘All I'll say is I thought there was enough in there to provide some challenge.
‘‘In 1901 Scott made the first balloon ascent in Antarctica; what was the name of the balloon?'' Mr Barnes said.
‘‘That type of thing.''
Specialist questions were selected from two texts - Antarctica: The Reader's Digest and Scott and Amundsen: The Last Place on Earth - which he agreed with the show producers, he said.
‘‘Once I knew what books the questions would come from I did a bit of study.''
Being on the show was enjoyable, however it did not compare to his visit to Shackleton's hut in 2013, which ‘‘was the best day of my life''.
