Primary school teacher Maccisha Medford has revealed what it was really like to secretly hold onto a £100,000 jackpot after making The 1% Club record books.
The popular ITV quiz show, hosted by Lee Mack, is different from traditional game shows that test contestants on general knowledge and obscure facts. Instead, players must work through increasingly difficult logic puzzles, with the final challenge designed to be solvable by just one percent of the population.
For years, contestants have reached the end hoping to claim the show’s maximum £100,000 prize. But none had previously managed to take home the entire jackpot.
That changed when Maccisha correctly solved the final question on a recent episode.
‘You Never Think You’ve Got It Right’
Maccisha told the BBC that she applied for the show while she was on maternity leave after her husband encouraged her to give it a try.
At the time, she never expected to actually make it onto television, saying she did not think she would get selected “in a million years.”
Yet she eventually found herself among the final three contestants, facing the question that would determine whether she could claim the full £100,000.
Maccisha admitted that she essentially took a chance on her answer, which she described as something that “semi-worked.”
View this post on Instagram
When the answer was revealed to be correct, the primary school teacher could hardly believe what had happened.
“It was a massive surprise when I actually got it right, you never in the moment think you’ve got it right,” she said.
Not even Lee Mack could believe it (ITV)
Keeping £100,000 Secret Was Almost Surreal
There was another challenge waiting for Maccisha after filming ended.
Because the series had been recorded in October, she could not immediately tell most of the people in her life that she had just won £100,000.
Instead, she had to carry on with everyday life while keeping the extraordinary secret to herself.
As the months passed, the experience began to feel increasingly unreal.
“The further it got away the more I was like, did that happen, did I dream that,” Maccisha said.
Now that the episode has aired and her win is public, she can finally talk openly about the money.
The primary school teacher has now opened up on what it was like to keep her winnings a secret (ITV)
How Maccisha Plans to Spend Her Winnings
Maccisha said she hopes to use some of the prize money to enjoy “nice holidays and little day trips” with her husband and young daughter.
Her daughter was only three months old when Maccisha recorded the show and had reached six months old by the time she spoke about her win.
The timing of the victory also means the teacher can take a year away from work to spend time with her baby.
“My daughter’s now six months old, she was three months old when we recorded it, so I can actually have a year off with her,” she explained.
Would you have guessed it? (ITV)
Could You Have Solved the Final 1% Club Question?
For viewers wondering whether they could have claimed the jackpot themselves, the final puzzle was deceptively simple.
Contestants were asked:
“What is the lowest number that replaces the question mark in this sequence?”
They were shown:
1 + 2 = one
2 + 2 = four
3 + 2 = three
3 + 3 = eleven
4 + 3 = ??
At first glance, the equations appear to make no mathematical sense.
The trick is hidden in the words.
The first number represents the number of consonants in the answer, while the second represents the number of vowels.
So one is the lowest number with one consonant and two vowels.
Four is the lowest number with two consonants and two vowels.
Three is the lowest number with three consonants and two vowels.
And eleven is the lowest number with three consonants and three vowels.
That means the final combination requires the lowest number containing four consonants and three vowels.
The answer is 15 — fifteen.
It was the solution that made Maccisha the first contestant to win the entire £100,000 prize on The 1% Club.
The 1% Club is available to watch on ITVX.