CJ de Mooi, a former panellist on Eggheads, has been arrested over an alleged killing that happened almost 20 years ago.
Scotland Yard announced that the TV star was detained at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday and handed a European arrest warrant under his real name Joseph Connagh. The warrant issued in the Netherlands relates to an allegation of murder.
CJ is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
© Photo: Getty ImagesCJ de Mooi was detained at Heathrow airport on Wednesday
The 46-year-old has previously admitted in his autobiography that he may have killed a man in Amsterdam, when he was living on the streets in 1988.
CJ wrote that he punched a man who approached him with a knife and then threw him into a canal.
"He caught me on the wrong day and I just snapped," he wrote. "I fully suspect I killed him. I've no idea what happened to him."
CJ lived in London and Amsterdam in his late teens, penniless and homeless. He rose to fame after securing a place on BBC Two show Eggheads, after winning a series of game shows.
© Photo: RexThe former Eggheads star admitted in his autobiography that he may have killed a man
CJ was dropped from the programme earlier this year, announcing that he was going to South Africa to pursue a career in acting.
The professional quizzer is originally from Barnsley, South Yorkshire but he changed his surname to "de Mooi" which means "handsome" in Dutch when he was 19. He was later quoted as saying, "I no longer want to be associated with my family."
A Scotland Yard spokesman released a short statement on Thursday, saying: "A man was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday 21 September on a European Arrest Warrant issued in the Netherlands in relation to an allegation of murder.
"Joseph Connagh, 46, self employed, of Monmouthshire appears in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday."
