There’s nothing a contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire wants more than to sweep through the rounds and win the huge prize money.
But while many have tried, even more have failed because of the tricky questions.
During ITV‘s latest episode, Jackie Lynch climbed the money ladder to £125,000 unscathed.
But she was stumped on the next question – who Floyd Mayweather’s 2015 boxing fight was against. The correct answer was Manny Pacquiao but Ms Lynch revealed she would have said Oscar De La Hoya.
From the early days of Chris Tarrant to the Jeremy Clarkson reboot – and even Hollywood’s Slumdog Millionaire – the iconic show leaves viewers biting their nails and screaming at the TV with its questions from the intellectually challenging to the blindingly obvious.
Now, MailOnline has uncovered the toughest and easiest questions in the show’s history.
So, could YOU answer them correctly?
Jackie Lynch climbed the money ladder to £125,000 unscathed and cleverly used her safety at this point, which meant that no matter what happened afterwards, she would go home with plenty of cash
The show has also produced more than a few iconic moments.
And sadly for some, not all of them have been memorable for good reasons.
MailOnline can also unveil the show’s biggest fails, from the infamous coughing major to losing £218,000 – and even walking away with nothing…
The coughing major
When it comes to quiz show cheats, none are more notorious than the ‘coughing major’ Charles Ingram.
The former army major, then aged 38, amazed audiences in 2001 when he scooped the top prize on the ITV primetime show while answering erratically to host Chris Tarrant’s questions.
But while Tarrant does hand over a cheque to winners on-screen, the money was withheld by production company Celador after concerns were raised over the possibility he had cheated.
Charles Ingram, then aged 38, (pictured) amazed audiences in 2001 when he scooped the top prize on the ITV primetime show while answering erratically to host Chris Tarrant’s questions
Ingram’s wife Diana (pictured together) was also involved in the deception and all three parties were handed suspended prison sentences following a four week trial at Southwark Crown Court, south London, in 2003
Charles and his wife Diana arriving at Southwark Crown Court to face charges of fraud in 2003
It later emerged that accomplice Tecwen Whittock, who was a future contestant, had coughed to indicate correct answers throughout the show.
The former army major was handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence in a crown court trial in 2003. He also became known as the ‘coughing major’ and was forced to resign his commission.
Whittock and Ingram’s wife, Diana, were both given 18-month suspended sentences for their part in the scam.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host Chris Tarrant arriving at Southwark Crown Court, central London, to give evidence at the trial of Army major Charles Ingram, in March 2003
Swayed by the audience… who lost contestant £93K
Contestant Oliver Bake was faced with the question: ”’3 May. Bistritz. Left Munich at 8.35pm” are the opening words to which novel?’
He had used his 50/50 to narrow the choices down to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Dracula.
With £125,000 in winnings his for the taking, Oli faced a literature question to get to £250,000
He asked the studio audience, but by a ratio of more than four to one, they recommended the wrong answer
Oli responded to the loss of £93,000 with good grace, saying ‘It’s something I now know’
Host Jeremy Clarkson was sympathetic when the gamble didn’t pay off, saying ‘What an absolute nightmare’
With £93,000 in play, Mr Bake admitted his answer ‘deserves a bit of thought’.
He decided to turn to the audience – but they overwhelmingly picked the wrong answer, with 81 per cent choosing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Walking away with ‘absolutely nothing’
John Davidson only made it to the £1,000 question, when Chris Tarrant asked him which of these girls’ names is the title of a Jane Austen novel: Emily, Jane, Emma or Sophie.
The correct answer was Emma – the 1815 classic set in fictional Highbury that was the last novel published in Austen’s lifetime.
Sadly for Mr Davidson, he chose the name Jane.
As the audience was stunned into silence Tarrant pulled a face and said: ‘That’s the wrong answer… I can’t believe you’ve done that.’
He added: ‘John, you go away with absolutely nothing.’
Joint biggest losers
Duncan Bickley and Rob Mitchell share the joint shame of both losing £218,000 – the most ever on the show.
Mr Bickley said the name of Amy Johnson’s plane she flew solo to Australia to in 1930 was Pegasus, but it was actually Jason.
He was the first Brit to miss the 14th question, on October 21, 2000.
Duncan Bickley (pictured) and Rob Mitchell share the joint shame of both losing £218,000 – the most ever on the show
Mr Bickley said the name of Amy Johnson’s plane she flew solo to Australia to in 1930 was Pegasus, but it was actually Jason
But around three years later, Rob Mitchell repeated the shocker on November 1, 2003.
Mr Mitchell was asked how tall an Oscar statuette is. He said 11 inches but it is actually 13.5.
He smiled, sat back and calmly said, ‘Oh well’. A shocked Chris Tarrant replied: ‘What do you mean, ”oh well?”’
Wrong answer wins thousands
On the original show with Chris tarrant, Tony Kennedy said 24 was the answer to ‘theoretically, what is the minimum number of strokes with which a tennis player can win a set?’
The actual answer is 12, but the show fumbled the ball, said Mr Kennedy’s answer was correct and let him go home with a £125,000 cheque.
In the next episode, Tarrant acknowledged the mistake but said as it was their fault, Mr Kennedy could keep the the cash.
Tony Hammond (pictured) walked away with £215,000 despite getting one of the questions wrong
Losing 31K because she didn’t trust her husband
On the new version with Jeremy Clarkson, beekeeper Lynn Buckingham used the new addition to the show – ask the host – to try to narrow down her options on a question.
When that didn’t work, she phoned a friend – her husband.
Pictured: Then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson with then-Prime Minister Theresa May at a Nato summit in 2017
Johnson succeeded Philip Hammond as Foreign Secretary in 2016 after Hammond’s two years in the role
She was vying to answer who Boris Johnson succeeded as Foreign Secretary in 2016.
Yet although her husband suggested Philip Hammond, the correct answer, Mrs Buckingham wet with William Hague, losing £31,000 in the process.
Quiz answers
1 B: Durham
2 B: Henry II
3 A: James I
4 C: Uranus
5 A: Trees
6 A: Googol
7 A: Winston Churchill
8 B: Blackbeard
9 D: Isle of Man TT
10 D: Speckled Wood
11 A: Bombardier Billy Wells
12 B: Chemist
13 D: Marilyn Monroe
14 A: Czechoslovakia
15 C: Volt
