'It's a surreal feeling': Student wins £5,000 on ITV's 1% Club game show
A student left a game show with a spring in her step after winning £5,000.
Maisie McClure, from Albrighton, took part in the new ITV programme The 1% Club, a quiz show hosted by comedian Lee Mack.
Contestants are asked questions that 'only one per cent' of the UK public have answered correctly, and has an ultimate prize of £100,000.
The 22-year-old, who studies biomedical sciences at Newcastle university, flew through the questions without using her 'pass' card, but when it came to the second to last question – before the jackpot prize – she remembered that she still had it, and decided to make use of it.
The question that Maisie decided to pass was based on a nursery rhyme and involved jumbled up letters in a grid and the challenge to find 'the missing animal'.
"As soon as I passed the question I knew the answer – it was annoying," she laughed.
When faced with the option to split the money or go for the jackpot, Maisie said there was 'no clear thought' going through her head.
"Me and the other contestant, Alex, decided to split the £10,000. We were asked if we wanted to gamble it for the £96k prize, but it's a lot of money to risk losing.
"You don't know what question you're going to get asked," she said, "so it wasn't worth the risk for me. I already got that far and was happy with that."
She added that Mr Mack made her feel 'comfortable and reassured'.
"He was really nice," Maisie said, "especially at the end before we decided to split the money, he came up to me and the other contestant individually and said congratulations, that it is a lot of money, and that we have done really well. He was down to earth and made us feel comfortable."
The student will be putting her well-earned cash to good use, and said it will not 'all be spent at once'.
"It was a surreal feeling to win that money – realistically I will save a decent amount of it and maybe buy a car in the summer. I definitely won't be spending it all at once!"
Maisie added that taking part in more game shows in the future is not completely out of the question, but said her nerves may get the better of her.
"It is tempting," she said. "But I'm a very stressy person and my heart rate was through the roof on the day. If the opportunity comes up again I probably won't say no."
