A The 1% Club contestant came agonisingly close to making television history after becoming the only player to reach a £100,000 jackpot question, but one wrong answer cost him the chance to claim the full prize.
Saturday night’s episode saw host Lee Mack reveal that the jackpot had reached £100,000, a rare opportunity for contestants on the popular ITV quiz show. With just one player remaining, all eyes turned to Steve as he faced the ultimate test of his logic and problem-solving skills.
Steve Takes a Risk for the £100,000 Jackpot
After successfully making it through the earlier rounds, Steve was the last contestant standing following the 5% question.
Mack explained that answering the final question correctly would make Steve the first person ever to win the show’s full £100,000 jackpot. However, getting it wrong meant risking the £10,000 he had already secured by reaching the final stage.
Steve acknowledged that £10,000 was a significant amount of money, but he decided to take the gamble and go for the life-changing prize.
His decision appeared to surprise Mack, who then revealed the show’s notoriously difficult 1% question.
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Could You Solve the Final Question?
What two letters replace the question marks?
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TE × T = MESSAGE
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TO × IN = POISON
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E × ?? = LEAVE
You have 30 seconds to work it out. Can you spot the hidden connection?
With the clock ticking, Steve had just 30 seconds to find the two missing letters. When time ran out, he revealed that his final answer was “NE.”
After a dramatic pause, Mack delivered the disappointing verdict: Steve had answered incorrectly.
The correct answer was “IT.”
The answer was revealed to be IT
The Tricky Wordplay Behind the Answer
The solution relied on replacing the word “times” with the letter X to create words associated with the answers on the right.
The completed expressions form the words TEXT, TOXIN and EXIT, which correspond to MESSAGE, POISON and LEAVE.
Although the puzzle appeared confusing at first, the trick was recognising the connection between the words rather than approaching the equations as conventional mathematical calculations.
Unfortunately for Steve, the incorrect answer meant he missed the opportunity to become the show’s first £100,000 winner.
Viewers Rally Around Steve After His Near Miss
Steve’s attempt prompted an outpouring of sympathy from viewers watching at home, many of whom admitted they were disappointed to see him fall at the final hurdle.
One viewer wrote on X: “Wow… I am gutted for Steve today. We could’ve had our first £100,000 winner… ah well.”
Another praised his performance despite the disappointing result, commenting: “I went out on 70% but got the 1% right. Bad luck, Steve, fair play for having a go.”
A third viewer admitted they had struggled much earlier in the game, writing: “Well Steve did super well to get to the 1% question. Whereas I got as far as 30% playing from home.”
The reactions highlighted just how difficult the final puzzle could be, even for people who had followed the questions throughout the programme.
Previous Contestants Faced an Even Tougher Dilemma
The previous week’s episode had also delivered a tense finish, with two contestants reaching the final question and getting the chance to win £94,000.
Both players chose to take their respective shares of the £10,000 rather than risk walking away without a prize if they answered incorrectly.
For one contestant, the decision proved worthwhile, as she later discovered that she would have answered the final question incorrectly.
The other woman experienced a more frustrating outcome: she would have given the correct answer and could have claimed the entire jackpot had she decided to take the risk.
The contrasting results demonstrated the difficult balance contestants face between securing a substantial sum and gambling for a much bigger reward.
The 1% Club airs on Saturdays on ITV and is also available to stream on ITVX.