Who wants to be €300,000 richer? This Irish quiz whiz!
A WATERFORD man has clinched almost €300,000 on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire TV show?
Gerard Crowley, from the village of Stradbally, won £250,000 (€293,000) on the ITV show.
The 28-year-old, a post-doctoral researcher in neuroscience who is living in London, said he began his efforts to get onto the show three years ago.
He was a contestant on the fifth and sixth episodes of series 39 of the British version of the show on March 3 and 10.
He appeared on a feeder show, Fastest Finger First, in 2021 before securing a place on the main programme.
The Waterford man had a fantastic round on Sunday’s show with his
‘I was very relieved to get to that point’
knowledge impressing viewers.
This has yet to air on Virgin Media, though it did on UTV. He looked like he was going for £1million, but a question on the Leonardo da Vinci painting The Last Supper stumped him.
Using his last lifeline, asking host Jeremy Clarkson, who didn’t know the answer to the question, Mr Crowley chose to walk away with the large sum of money.
Last Sunday’s show was recorded in February last year, which meant he had to keep his winnings undercover since.
Speaking to Beat102/103FM in Waterford, Mr Crowley said: ‘I thought £64,000 would have been an amazing amount of money. I got to the £32,000 mark and hadn’t used any lifelines.
‘I was really happy to set my safety net at £64,000. That was the point where I got a really difficult question and had to use three of my lifelines. I was very relieved to get to that point.’
Mr Crowley revealed he had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
He is entitled to receive his winnings next month, as he had to wait for his time in the hot seat to be aired.
‘The first thing I think I’m gonna buy is a packet of chewing gum, when the money comes in. Just to say the first purchase with my £250,000 was some Extra spearmint gum,’ he joked.
Mr Crowley plans to celebrate his win with his partner, Aoife, from Kilsheelan, Co. Tipperary.
For the question to win £250,000, Clarkson asked him: ‘Which geological era, that includes the Carboniferous and Cambrian periods, has a name derived from the Greek for ancient life?’
Mr Crowley had four choices: Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Proterozoic or Paleozoic. He correctly chose Paleozoic.
The final question he walked away from was: ‘In Leonardo da Vinci’s mural The Last Supper, which apostle is positioned on Jesus’s left side, pointing his finger upwards?’
The choices were Thomas, Peter, Judas and John, but Mr Crowley was stumped. The correct answer was Thomas.