TV quiz ace falls at final question

THE first contestant asked the million-pound question by Jeremy Clarkson on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? went home with £500,000 after failing to answer it.

Teacher John Robinson powered through to the end of the first show of the new season on ITV last night.

Finally John, 36, was asked: “Which of these UK Prime Ministers never served as Foreign Secretary? A. Winston Churchill B. Alec Douglas-Home C. Anthony Eden D. Harold Macmillan.” English teacher from Birmingham decided not to guess and kept his money – vowing to buy a new home and propose to girlfriend Chloe, 28. He joked: “I’ve no longer got the excuse that I can’t afford a ring!”

He was the first since 2006 to reach the final stage of the show, relaunched last year with Clarkson at its helm.

John discovered after the show was recorded in January that his phone-afriend pal Martin had known the answer to the £1million question. He said: “Had I saved him for the final question, I’d be a millionaire. But I can’t be too disappointed because I needed him for the £250,000 engineering question.”

John said of winning: “I was shaking my head and laughing. I thought someone would say, ‘right, that’s the end of the practice, now for the real thing’.”

John will keep teaching, insisting: “I’m not going to leave the kids in the lurch when they’ve got exams coming up.”

■ Who Wants to be a Millionaire? continues all week at 9pm on ITV.