A Tipping Point contestant was reduced to tears after an agonising final round left a jackpot counter hanging on the edge — and even host Ben Shephard was left stunned by the tense showdown.
In Tuesday evening’s episode of the ITV game show, Carol, Glyn, Steph and Luke competed for the chance to take home the £10,000 prize fund.
But it was work experience coordinator Carol who made it through to the dramatic final round.
Before the game began, Ben asked Carol what she hoped to do with the money if she won.
The work experience coordinator revealed that she wanted to go to Colorado with the winningsCredit: ITV
Carol explained that appearing on a game show was already one of three things on her bucket list.
“I have a bucket list of three things that I wanted to do and be on a game show is number two, so I can now go ‘tick’,” she said.
She revealed that another ambition was to “start to grow old disgracefully”, adding that she had already got a tattoo the previous year.
Her final goal was to visit Colorado.
“And the last thing on my list is to go to Colorado, so I’m hoping that today will give me the opportunity to go there and turn left on the aeroplane, rather than right.”
Tipping Point contestant Carol was left in tears after a tense final roundCredit: ITV
Carol Takes a Huge Gamble
Carol chose to drop the jackpot counter into zone three, with Ben reminding her that knocking the double counter from the same zone could potentially take her winnings to an impressive £20,000.
She then began answering questions across six categories: sport, film, classical music, literature, transport and fashion.
After the first question, Carol was delighted to see the jackpot counter move closer to the edge.
But the excitement quickly turned into frustration.
Despite her best efforts, Carol simply could not get the counter to budge.
As hope began to fade, Ben encouraged her from the sidelines.
“We’re really close here, you’re doing a cracking job Carol,” he told her.
Then, after a question about a popular 2019 novel, the situation finally began to change.
Carol managed to knock the double counter off, adding a substantial amount to her total and bringing the jackpot counter even closer to dropping.
During the next question, she pushed it right towards the edge.
“One more to go Carol, look how close it is!” Ben exclaimed.
“I know. It’s just teetering on the edge!” Carol replied.
But the counter refused to fall.
“It’s teasing us!” Ben said.
‘Now It’s a James Bond Cliffhanger’
The tension only intensified as the next set of counters became stuck.
Carol needed just one to knock the others forward and send the jackpot counter down, but they remained stubbornly in place.
“No, no, no, no! Now do it! Now it’s a James Bond cliffhanger,” Ben shouted.
Ben couldn’t hide his reaction when the counter decided to not budgeCredit: ITV
With the other counters weighing everything down, Carol began to worry that she had run out of options.
After describing the agonising wait as “torture”, Ben offered her one final gamble.
Carol could trade the money she had already secured for another three counters, giving herself another chance to push the jackpot counter over the edge.
It was a huge decision.
The counter was left on the edge for quite some timeCredit: ITV
But with her Colorado dream in mind, Carol decided to take the risk.
“Because it was my bucket list just to be on a gameshow… I’m going to say what the heck,” she said.
“I’m going to trade. I would like to see if I can get the jackpot.”
Her gamble paid off almost immediately.
The very first counter she dropped managed to knock the jackpot counter from its precarious position.
Carol had done it.
Carol Breaks Down in Tears
The relief and excitement proved too much for Carol, who became visibly emotional after discovering that she had won.
Turning to Ben, she said: “It means I can do number three on my bucket list…”
A delighted Ben congratulated her and wished her all the best, even asking her to send him a postcard from Colorado.
The emotional moment came after Carol had spent much of the final round watching her jackpot counter sit agonisingly close to the edge.
Her decision to risk the money she had already accumulated ultimately gave her the chance she needed.
Another Tipping Point Contestant Clashes With Ben
The dramatic episode followed another memorable Tipping Point moment involving contestant Danny, who snapped “How dare you!” at Ben after the presenter joked about one of his answers.
During the penultimate round, contestant Michael passed his question to Danny.
Ben asked: “In Greek mythology, which son of the Titan, Iapetus, stole fire from the gods and has a chemical element named after him?”
Danny took a guess, replying: “The only thing I can think of is titanium. I don’t even know if that’s a chemical element.”
Ben then remarked: “It was a good pass there Michael. I don’t know how you knew that Danny wouldn’t be into his Greek mythology.”
Danny clearly did not appreciate the joke.
“How dare you!” he fired back.
The next episode of Tipping Point airs at 4.00pm on ITV.