The first champion of the UK version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? for 14 years has been hailed as the “greatest jackpot winner” in its history.
The contestant, who is believed to be male, completed the questions in record time and didn’t even need to use all the available lifelines.
He has become the sixth UK jackpot winner in the 22 years of the ITV show.
ITV bosses have not yet revealed the player’s identity but they say viewers will be blown away by the performance.
Host Jeremy Clarkson said having his first millionaire winner filmed during lockdown with no audience had been an “emotional” experience.
The landmark show was recorded last month with strict social distancing measures in place, meaning only the contestants, production team and presenter Clarkson were allowed in the studio.
Because players lost one of their three lifeline options by being unable to ask the audience, they were instead given two opportunities to phone a friend.
Clarkson, 60, said. “I’m thrilled and delighted we’ve found someone who seems to know just about everything.
“I can’t wait for the viewers to see it and I want to watch it back too.
“I was just in awe of this contestant and think they are probably the best the show has ever had in its 22-year history. It was a joy to sit and watch it unfold.”
Revealing the winner sped through the rounds without much hesitation, Clarkson said: “It felt like we whizzed through the 15 questions and all of a sudden confetti was falling from the ceiling, and I was saying ‘You’ve just won one million pounds’.
“I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to utter those immortal six words and I’m not embarrassed to say it was a little emotional but, boy, did it feel good.”
The game show with the biggest prize in TV history launched in 1998 with Chris Tarrant in the host’s chair and has now run for 630 episodes.
The show was such a hit that TV stations around the world sought to make their own versions – Millionaire has now been aired in more than 90 countries.
The first UK millionaire winner was Judith Keppel in 2000, who remains the only woman to take the jackpot.
Now aged 78, she spent £100 phoning the show more than 50 times to secure a place.
Former physics teacher David Edwards and Oxford-educated banker Robert Brydges both went home with the £1million prize in 2001.
Pat Gibson, a multiple world champion Irish quiz player, was the fourth person to win the UK top prize in 2004. He was followed by civil servant Ingram Wilcox in 2006.
Major Charles Ingram also won the £1million in 2001 – at the height of the show’s popularity.
But the episode was never aired and he was stripped of his prize after being found guilty of cheating in 2003.
Quiz – a three-part ITV drama retelling the scandal – was broadcast in April this year with Michael Sheen playing Chris Tarrant.
The latest hour-long episodes of the fifth series under Clarkson are set to be shown across one week early next month.
