The 1% Club Contestant Planned to Walk Away at £10,000 — Then Risked Everything on One Question and Won £99,000

Daniel O’Halloran arrived on The 1% Club with a very clear plan: if he made it far enough to secure £10,000, he would take the money rather than gamble it away.

But when the 24-year-old from the Wirral actually reached that moment, he did the exact opposite.

Instead of playing safe, Daniel put his chance of leaving with £10,000 on the line and attempted the final 1% question for a staggering £99,000.

Seconds later, he was running around the stage after an answer that changed everything.

His Mum Was the Reason He Was There

Daniel had not originally set out to apply for the ITV game show.

His family were big fans of The 1% Club, and it was his mother who signed him up. Daniel eventually agreed to give it a try and travelled to Manchester to film in 2022.

The format begins with 100 contestants and puts them through 15 increasingly difficult questions based on logic and reasoning rather than traditional general knowledge.

Daniel believed he had a reasonable chance of making it through several rounds.

Winning almost £100,000 was another matter entirely.

He later admitted that he never imagined he would leave with such an enormous amount of money.

More importantly, he had already decided where his limit would be.

If he reached £10,000 without another safety net, Daniel intended to stop.

Then He Abandoned His Own Plan

Daniel survived long enough to face exactly the kind of decision he had previously promised himself he would avoid.

He could protect the smaller amount or risk it for £99,000.

With the biggest question of the night sitting in front of him, Daniel changed his mind.

He went for it.

The question read:

“If you list all the numbers from 1 to 100 in order, 100 would be the 100th number but what would be the 100th digit?”

Suddenly, £99,000 depended on a single answer.

Daniel locked in his response:

Five.

It was correct.

Daniel Said He “Lost Control” of His Body

The moment Lee Mack confirmed the result, Daniel’s composure disappeared.

“I lost control of my body,” he later recalled, describing how he ran around celebrating on the stage in complete shock.

Daniel had entered the programme never imagining he would find himself attempting the final question.

Now he had won £99,000.

But there was another challenge waiting for him after filming — and this one lasted far longer than 30 seconds.

He Had to Hide the £99,000 Secret From His Own Family

Because the episode would not air until 2023, Daniel decided not to immediately reveal the result to his family.

That meant keeping one enormous secret from the person responsible for putting him on the show in the first place: his mum.

Daniel wanted her to experience the result as it happened on television.

He admitted keeping quiet was difficult. There were moments when family members asked about the show and he nearly gave everything away, particularly because he struggled to hide his smile.

Only his grandmother and a few friends were told.

Then the episode finally aired.

His family watched Daniel progress through the competition without knowing where his run was heading.

When they saw him win, Daniel said they were in “total shock.”

For him, watching their reaction became another unforgettable part of the experience.

From a £10,000 Limit to a £99,000 Payday

Daniel’s original strategy could hardly have been more different from what eventually happened.

Before filming, £10,000 had seemed like the point where common sense would take over. He had no intention of putting that amount at risk simply to chase a bigger jackpot.

Yet when the opportunity actually arrived, he trusted himself and went for the final question.

The gamble increased his winnings almost tenfold.

Daniel said he intended to be sensible with the money, including potentially putting it toward a house and paying off a mortgage.

But after unexpectedly walking away with £99,000, he also felt he should enjoy some of it.

For a contestant who had not even signed himself up for the programme, the outcome was difficult to imagine.

His mum put his name forward.

Daniel planned to stop at £10,000.

And one answer — “five” — turned that plan into a £99,000 win.