As the legendary ITV quiz show gets set to crown its sixth winner, we take a look at what the previous five did next, and put your quiz knowledge to the test!
By Virgin TV Edit
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is one of those once in a generation gameshows that has found a way to endure for decades. It’s a tantalising format for audiences and contestants alike, so much so that was of the most popular dramas this century was about the show’s infamous coughing scandal.
It’s a testament to the show’s difficulty that, in its 22-year stint on our screens (barring a brief four-year spell in TV limbo), only five contestants have made bagged the big £1m prize… until now. At long last, this upcoming series will see a sixth contestant claim the mammoth prize and a showering of confetti.
The first for fourteen years to win, the justifiable mystery surrounding their identity got us wondering: what became of the previous five quizzers that managed to conquer the fifteen questions and become instant millionaires?
Luckily, we’ve done the digging and can reveal all below...
Judith Keppel – November 2000
Keppel was a “struggling” garden designer when she made her now-legendary appearance on the eighth series. Through a bizarre coincidence, her paternal ancestors Eleanor Of Aquitane and Henry II both featured in her £1m question. In the 20 years since, Keppel has regularly appeared as one of the quiz “experts” on BBC quiz show, Eggheads.
David Edwards – April 2001
You know how it is. You wait two years for a millionaire to come along and suddenly two arrive in six months. Edwards was no stranger to quizzing when he appeared on Mllionaire, having already won the Mensa Superbrain Title in 1985. A second-place finish on Mastermind in 2005 and two unsuccessful attempts to become an Eggheads expert in 2008 and 2009 followed his win.
Robert Brydges – September 2001
A controversial victor, some fans didn’t take too kindly to an already wealthy city banker winning the prize a few months after Edwards’ victory. Ultimately though, credit where credit’s due, Brydges smashed it, becoming the third contestant to win the British version of the show. Plus, he witnessed history in being an audience member for cheater Charles Ingram’s infamous, cough-assisted “win”.
Pat Gibson – April 2004
If Brydges smashed it, Gibson obliterated it. Final question, two lifelines remaining, Gibson strolled his way to the big prize back. A quiz legend – Gibson was already a multiple quiz world champion prior to his Millionaire appearance – he went on to win Mastermind a year later, and even returned to become Mastermind Champion Of Champions in 2010. Turns out you spell “Absolute Boss” P-A-T. Legend.
Ingram Wilcox – September 2006
With a name like Ingram Wilcox, you knew he meant quizness. Having twice come achingly close to appearing on the show in 2004 and 2005 (losing the “Fastest Finger First” round which determined the next contestant), Wilcox made the most of his sole appearance. Details are thin on the ground when it comes to what Wilcox did next, the former civil servant supposedly spending his winnings on a jazzy-sounding lamp, before moving to the south of France.
But how well could you do in hot seat?
It’s time to take a trip down a quiz-laden memory lane, to see if you have what it takes to beat our own Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? quiz.
All of these questions are real £1million questions that have appeared on the show. Can you answer them? Or, at the very least, remember what the answers were when you watched them on the telly...
When is Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on TV?
You can watch the first episode of the new series on Monday 7 September at 9pm on ITV HD (CH 103).
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