Contestant could have won £1M by answering TT

Wed, 13 May 2020

Come on! You should know this one: "Which of these iconic races was held first?"

A) Le Mans 24 Hours B) Monaco Grand Prix C) Indy 500 or D) Isle Of Man TT.

This was the million-pound question facing Andrew Townsley as he sat in the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire hotseat on Tuesday night.

Agonisingly, the retired doctor could not be certain and walked away with £500,000 - but went on to say the answer he would have given and turned out to be correct.

So could you have bagged the million-pound prize? Without giving the answer away yet, you can have a go at the full set of 15 questions below.

Mr Townsley, from Glasgow, would have been the sixth contestant to scoop the maximum prize on the ITV quiz show had he not played it safe, after answering the first 14 questions correctly.

He even had a final lifeline, phone a friend, but decided to walk away when his chosen helper did not know the answer.

Explaining his decision, Mr Townsley, who appeared on the show in a wheelchair and has progressive multiple sclerosis, said he wanted the money to pay for a holiday.

"I don't know the answer and it's just too much money to lose," he said. "Having got so far and to go on a whim I think would be foolish and Niagara Falls is looking very nice at this time."

Host Jeremy Clarkson congratulated him on being a "truly fabulous contender".

Have a go at his 15 questions here.

No contestant has won the top prize since Ingram Wilcox in 2006, when the show was hosted by original presenter Chris Tarrant.

The first was Judith Keppel in November 2000.

For her final question, Tarrant asked: "Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?"

Ms Keppel, who went on to become one of the star quizzers on Eggheads, correctly answered Henry II.

In all, only five people have won the million-pound prize on the UK version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? since it launched in 1998.

But perhaps the most famous contestant in the show's history is Major Charles Ingram, who has been back in the headlines this year thanks to ITV drama Quiz.

Ingram "won" the grand prize in 2001 but never received the cash, after being found guilty of cheating in an infamous coughing scam.

He and his wife, Diana, are planning to appeal their conviction.

© Sky News 2020

---