Another millionaire winner

Chris's pact with the devil had given him special levitating powers
11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Quiz expert Pat Gibson scooped top prize on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Saturday night after reaching the £1 million question with two lifelines still intact.

Viewers saw the 42-year-old computer programmer hit the jackpot after using his 50/50 and phone a friend options.

Presenter Chris Tarrant said: "Pat was an incredible contestant. We've never had someone get to the million pound question with two lifelines remaining before - he really knows his stuff. I'm delighted for him and his family."

Gibson had reached £250,000 in a previous programme - screened before the recent celebrity specials - and the first one he tackled tonight was for £500,000, which he answered with ease.

To win the £1 million, Gibson was asked the question: which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horses races?

The father-of-two from Wigan, who is a member of three quiz leagues in the north west, knew the answer was Arlington Million.

But he used his 50/50 lifeline then called friend Mark Kerr, who came up with the same answer.

Gibson had previously helped Kerr win £250,000 on the same show.

Celebrating his win with wife Shelagh, he said: "When I came back with £250,000 and two lifelines, I decided that whatever happened I wasn't going to take any risks.

"When I saw the million pound question I knew the answer was Arlington Million but the stakes are so high at that stage of the game that it would have been foolish not to have used the lifelines."

He now plans to spend some of his prize money on children Elizabeth, 10, and Noah, six.

Gibson is the fourth and youngest £1 million winner on the show.

The others were Robert Bridges in September 2001, David Edwards in April 2001 and Judith Keppel in November 2000.

But there is one disappointment for quiz fanatic Gibson.

He had also applied to be on Mastermind, choosing the works of author Iain Banks and the films of Quentin Tarantino as his specialist subjects.

But Mastermind rules state that no contestant can have appeared on any other quiz show within the same year.

A spokeswoman for the BBC show said: "Mr Gibson applied but unfortunately he is ineligible this year. He is very welcome to apply next year."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in