The seven Who Wants to be a Millionaire questions which have landed intelligent TV contestants the quiz present’s jackpot prize – and the place they’re now
A retired IT consultant from Stockport became the latest contestant to scoop the biggest prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire on Sunday evening.
Roman Dubowski, who’d predicted he’d win £32,000 ahead of the show, carved a sometimes shaky path all the way to the top sum of money after correctly answering 15 questions in the opening episode of the new series.
Dubowski joins an elite club of winners that has enlisted just seven members since the show first aired, hosted then by Chris Tarrant, in 1998.
There might have been an eighth, were it not for the disqualification of former British Army major Charles Ingram in 2001.
Retired IT consultant Roman Dubowski played an epic game of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on Sunday night, becoming the seventh winner of the quiz show
The most scandalous moment in the show’s 28-year-history saw Ingram stripped of his prize fund – and given a two-year suspended prison sentence – after being aided by his wife and a friend who coughed from the audience when they knew the correct answer.
The question, posed by current host Jeremy Clarkson, that landed Dubowski instant millionaire status on Sunday?
‘Used since 1876, which trademarked logo is described in the James Joyce novel Ulysses and depicted in works by Manet and Picasso?’
The champion quizzer was confident he knew which of the four answers – The Bass Ale, The Famous Grouse, Coca-Cola and Stella Artois – was the correct one, later saying he’d seen the Manet painting recently and noticed the Bass Ale triangle on a beer bottle in it.
The retiree says he’ll now share some of the million with his niece and nephew, while also plotting trips to New Zealand and South America.
How did the other TV millionaires spend their jackpot – and what were the questions that saw them walk away with the show’s biggest prize?
2000: THE FIRST WINNER – JUDITH KEPPEL
In 2000, Judith Keppel became the first person to win the £1million prize on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and she later became part of the TV show Eggheads
Judith is to date UK Millionaire’s only female winner and made history when she was the first contestant to scoop the top prize
Former garden designer Judith Keppel remains the UK version of the show’s only female winner, and made history when she was the first contestant to scoop the top prize in 2020 – after the programme had been on air for two years.
The divorced mother-of-three from Fulham, South-West London, had spent around £100 ringing the show’s contestant line in a bid to secure a place.
She said afterwards: ‘I remember targeting one particular day and dialling over and over again. BT rang me up and asked me if I realised my telephone bills were rising.’
Keppel made headlines not only because of her achievement on the show but also for her aristocratic lineage. Through her great-grandfather Arnold Keppel, the 8th Earl of Albemarle, Judith is third cousin to the Queen.
Now 83, Keppel continued quizzing, starring in a one-off winners special with ex England goalkeeper David Seaman – winning £32,000 for charity – and later appearing as one of the experts on BBC gameshow Eggheads.
Judith Keppel’s £1million question
Which King was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?
A) Henry, B) Henry II, C) Richard or D) Henry V
Answer: Henry II
2001: THE TEACHER – DAVID EDWARDS
Contestant David Edwards, then a Stockport teacher, is pictured with his winning cheque alongside his wife, Vivien, in 2001
A horticultural question was all that stood between Edwards and the prize pot
A physics teacher and dad-of-two from Staffordshire was next up for the biggest win a year on from Judith Keppel making TV history.
A 1990 mastermind champion and a Mensa member, he deployed a mathematical approach to getting on to Millionaire, working out that you needed to make 500 calls to their phone lines to get a better-than-evens chance to get on, and paying his son Richard to do the leg work.
‘I thought of it as a sort of investment rather than a gamble,’ he said of the £1,000 spent on phone calls. He also trained for the Fastest Finger using a concertina and a stopwatch.
The six figures enable Edward, now in his late 70s, and his then deputy head wife Viv to take early retirement, pay off their mortgage and travel with adventures in Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. They also snapped up a property in France.
His high profile quizzing continued: In 2008 and 2009 Edwards competed on gameshow Are You an Egghead? His last TV quiz appearance came in September 2016 on Make me an Egghead.
David Edwards’ £1million question
If you planted the seeds of Quercus Robur what would grow?
A) Trees, B) Flowers, C) Vegetables or D) Grain
Answer: Trees
2001: FIRST WINNER AFTER COUGH SCANDAL – ROBERT BRYDGES
Robert Brydges – a former banker – appeared on Millionaire just 11 days after Charles Ingram’s infamous stint, and had even been sat in Winners Row while the show was being filmed
Brydges reached the final question with relative ease, and with the help of a 50:50 received the famous seven-figure cheque
Then a 47-year-old retired City banker and father of two, Robert Brydges was already the owner of a £2 million London townhouse and a £1 million country retreat near Hampshire, while both his children attended private school.
The family’s apparent wealth sparked controversy among viewers, some of whom deemed his win unfair against the backdrop of his wealth.
How did he spend the million? Gaining an MA degree at The Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, indulging in Northumbrian sword-dancing and creating his own oak woodland.
He returned to Millionaire in 2003, playing for charity with Judith Chalmers, and won £32,000, having answered the £250,000 question incorrectly – but later preferred a low-key life, refusing to take part in a 2020 special.
Robert Brydges’ £1million question
Which scientific unit is named after an Italian nobleman?
A) Pascal, B) Ohm, C) Volt or D) Hertz
Answer: Volt
Would you get them right? The seven million-pound questions
After ITV teased that not one but two contestants would reach the final £1million question in series 35, Jeremy Clarkson watched on as the most recent winner, contestant Roman Dubowski, answered 15 questions correctly this week
Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?
A) Henry I B) Henry II C) Richard I D) Henry V
– Answered by Judith Keppel in 2000
If you planted the seeds of Quercus robur, what would grow?
A) Trees B) Flowers C) Vegetables D) Grain
– Answered by David Edwards in 2001
Which scientific unit is named after an Italian nobleman?
A) Pascal B) Ohm C) Volt D) Hertz
– Answered by Robert Brydges in 2001
Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?
A) Arlington Million B) Belmont Stakes C) Kentucky Derby D) Preakness Stakes
– Answered by Pat Gibson in 2004
Which boxer was famous for striking the gong in the introduction to J. Arthur Rank films?
A) Bombadier Billy Wells B) Freddie Mills C) Terry Spinks D) Don Cockell
–Answered by Ingram Wilcox in 2006
In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?
A) Calico Jack B) Blackbeard C) Bartholomew Roberts and D) Captain Kidd
– Answered by Donald Fear in 2020
Used since 1876, which trademarked logo is described in the James Joyce novel Ulysses and depicted in works by Manet and Picasso?
A) The Bass Ale B) The Famous Grouse C) Coca-Cola D) Stella Artois
– Answered by Roman Dubowski in 2026
Answers: B, A, C, A, A, B and A
2004: THE IRISH IT WHIZZ WHO SAVED HIS LIFELINES – PAT GIBSON
Pat Gibson from Galway proved to be one of Millionaire’s best-equipped contestants by the time he reached the £1 million question, as he still had two lifelines to use
With the help of a 50:50 and Phone-A-Friend, he was crowned winner, and is now a regular in the world of professional quizzing and on BBC’s Eggheads
A software engineer and father-of-two from Galway who lived in Wigan with his wife, Shelagh, the Irishman was well placed to answer the 15th question, which was on a subject he had knowledge of.
He was ‘fairly confident’ he knew the answer but realised it would be madness not to use the two lifelines he had to narrow down the answer, saying: ‘If there is one thing worse than losing £968,000 in public, it is doing it in a cavalier fashion.’
After the win, he carried on with his quiet life, reflecting afterwards: ‘There were no yachts or racehorses – I’m a bit boring like that. We didn’t even move to a new house.’
He did go part-time though and continued his love of quizzes, joining fellow winner Keppel as an expert on BBC show Eggheads for a time. He dominated the World Quizzing Championships too winning 13 times between 2003 and 2018.
The £1million question
Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?
A) Arlington Million, B) Belmont Stakes, C) Kentucky Derby or D) Preakness Stakes
Answer: Arlington Million
2006: THE RETIRED CIVIL SERVANT – INGRAM WILCOX
Ingram Wilcox’s win in 2006 would be the last for nearly 15 years. He shared his winnings among his five children and admitted it didn’t go very far
The retired civil servant from Bath moved into a new home in France a year after appearing on the show
THE COUGHING MAJOR SCANDAL
Perhaps the most infamous quiz show contestant in history, in September 2001 British Army major Charles Ingram looked to have become the third person to have won the jackpot before suspicions were raised about the manner of his win.
A cough and a criminal conviction: British Army major Charles Ingram was convicted of fraud after his 2001 appearance
While reviewing the recording, the production team made a connection between Ingram’s answers and coughs coming from a waiting contestant, lecturer Tecwen Whittock.
His payout was suspended and in April 2003 Ingram was convicted on a single count of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception and received a suspended 18-month jail sentence.
The scandal was later dramatised in ITV’s acclaimed series Quiz.
Ingram Wilcox, a civil servant from Chippenham was living in a one-room flat in Bath following his divorce when he took part in the show in 2006 – and was the last contestant to win the million during original host Chris Tarrant’s tenure.
He later revealed that his jackpot win wasn’t enough for him to buy a house in his native Bath and he upped sticks and moved to a picturesque town near Bordeaux, a year after winning in 2006.
He told the Daily Mail six years ago: ‘Once you get past the initial euphoria of winning, it dawns on you that, yes, this is very nice, but its not actually a fantastic amount these days.
‘Even back then in 2006. At the time I lived in Bath, and at the time there were huge swathes of the town where I just couldn’t afford a house.
‘I have five children, so I wanted to give them a decent share. I wanted to buy a house, and then I was going to use the rest to live on the interest.
In 2019, he said he was enjoying his retirement in the rolling French countryside with his second wife Pat, spending his days bird-watching, reading books, and ‘pottering about’.
The £1million question
Which boxer was famous for striking the gong in the introduction to J. Arthur Rank films?
A) Bombadier Billy Wells B) Freddie Mills C) Terry Spinks D) Don Cockell
Answer: Bombadier Billy Wells
2020: THE ONE WHO GAVE IT ALL AWAY – DONALD FEAR
After a 14 year wait, Donald Fear, 61, became only the sixth contestant to win the big prize on the hugely popular ITV quiz show in 2020.
The history and politics teacher from Haberdashers’ Adams in Newport, Shropshire, Fear became the show’s first winner during Jeremy Clarkson’s tenure as host on 11 September 2020.
But he only kept a fraction of his winnings – enough to fund a modest retirement – and gave away £700,000 of his million-pound windfall to family and friends.
And Mr Fear even forgot to buy his wife anything at all from his winnings – except a £30 pair of walking boots.
He told the Daily Mail in 2020: ‘Giving the money away was the best thing that happened.’
The £1million question
In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?
A) Calico Jack B) Blackbeard C) Bartholomew Roberts and D) Captain Kidd
Answer: Blackbeard
