An unlucky Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestant threw away £93,000 last night after following the audience's advice on a tricky literature question.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6564489/Who-Wants-Millionaire-contestant-loses-93-000-taking-audiences-advice.html
Oli, from Canterbury, had successfully made it as far as £125,000 in the popular quiz show and could have walked away with the cash.
But he faced a question about opening lines from great works of fiction which could have doubled his money to £250,000. He was asked which novel begins with the words: '
3 May. Bistritz. Left Munich at 8:35PM.'
The four options were Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Dracula, Heart of Darkness and Frankenstein.
The confused contestant admitted to not having read any of the four novels.
Talking through the options he found himself unable to hazard a guess, so he asked presenter Jeremy Clarkson if he could use his '50/50' lifeline to remove two wrong answers.
The computer removed the novels by Joseph Conrad and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley leaving him with just Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Dracula to choose from.
Knowing he could still walk away with £125,000 - and that he would lose £93,000 and drop to winnings of just £32,000 if he got it wrong - Oli went a step further and asked the studio audience.
The audience overwhelmingly voted for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, with 81 per cent giving him that answer.
Even at the that point, the rules of the game stipulate Oli could still have walked away from the podium, refused to give any answer, and taken home a massive £125,000 in prize money.
But with the audience seemingly so sure, he took a risk.
He said: 'I think let's go with... let's do it. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, final answer.'
The opening line in question comes from the head of Chapter 1 of Dracula, the classic epistolary Gothic horror novel written by Bram Stoker and published in 1897