A Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? contestant lost out on nearly £100,000 after asking the audience for their help with a tough question.
Player Olly made it to the £250,000 question stage with two lifelines still intact before getting stuck on a poser about novels.
And even though the Canterbury resident had the opportunity to fold and leave with a tidy £125,000, Olly pressed on and used up his pointers before falling at the final hurdle.
Annoyingly, Olly only required three more correct answers in the final episode of the ITV quiz’s latest series to go home with a cool million quid.
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But it wasn’t Olly’s night.
Asked which novels starts with the words “3 May. Bistritz. Left Munich at 8:35 P.M.”, he found it hard to narrow down his options.
Admitting to host Jeremy Clarkson he hasn’t read any of the literary works, Olly decided to use his 50/50 lifeline – but it did not help him reach a conclusion.
Left with only two potential options between Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Dracula, he then reasoned at least some of the members of the audience would be familiar with fiction and eventually went all in with the majority of the group.
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A whopping 81% of the studio crowd picked John le Carré’s spy thriller as the correct answer, but their advice proved to be wrong.
Plumping for the red herring, Olly was crestfallen when his motormouth host informed him he’d had an “absolute nightmare”.
“It’s something I know now,” he reflected after covering his grimace with his hands clasped together in a praying position.
However, despite dropping £93,000 from his total, Olly still bagged £32,000 for his previously successful efforts, so not too bad a day at the office for him.
While scores of viewers commented on Twitter they were gutted for Olly, others had a giggle at his misfortune.
And others suggested the audience ‘owed’ Olly after giving duff guidance, joking they had had it in for him.
“They all owe Olly a drink on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Absolutely nailed him,” chuckled one.
