Who Wants to Be a Millionaire contestant makes show 'history' on £1million question

If you're British then at one point or another in your life, you've probably sat down to watch an episode of the classic quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

The ITV classic has been running on and off since 1998 now, with Jeremy Clarkson stepping away from his ongoing farm duties to host the show, replacing Chris Tarrant back in 2018.

Quiz shows have served us up some memorable moments over the years, whether you remember a contestant's 'head exploding' during Lee Mack's quiz show on Inside No.9, or the more refined comedy of Amol Rajan saying: "I can't accept drum 'n' bass, we need jungle, I'm afraid," on University Challenge.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was, of course, thrown back into the public spotlight when a dramatised version of one particular contestant's win revealed that he'd been cheating.

However, when appearing on Sunday's episode (25 May), it was clear that contestant Nicholas Bennett didn't need to cheat to progress far, as he sailed through the questions without any real help.

Jeremy Clarkson is the current host of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (ITV)

He quickly reached the £1 million question, and looked set to claim the life-changing amount, until the notoriously tough question seriously tripped him up.

Mr Bennett was asked: 'Which of these words, each coined by a famous writer, was derived from the tale of of a fairytale about three princes?'

His options were A) Pandemonium, B) Serendipity, C) Utopia and D) Yahoo.

Having stormed through much of the game thus far, he still had two of his helplines remaining, which you would have thought would have helped see him over the line and claim the jackpot.

At first, he used his 'ask Jeremy' helpline, but the host was about as much use as a chocolate teapot, so Mr Bennett decided to use the last lifeline - Phone a Friend - but his friend also ended up not knowing the answer.

Before he answered, he was reminded that he could quit now and claim the £500,000 he'd already won - but that clearly didn't fit in with the contestant's brazen approach that had taken him this far, and he opted to risk it by selecting D) Yahoo.

Nicholas Bennett risked it all which unfortunately didn't pay off in the way he'd hoped (ITV)

Unfortunately for him, the correct answer was actually B) Serendipity, which sadly meant he wouldn't be claiming the show's jackpot.

Despite the devastating loss, which is one of the show's biggest ever, Nicholas remained upbeat and reminded the audience (and perhaps himself) that he would still win £125,000 from his appearance on the show.

'Oh my giddy aunt,' Jeremy said afterwards, before wondering: 'Is that the biggest loss in Millionaire history?'

At least he can go home knowing he did better than celebrity Fred Sirieix, who made history in another way with his appearance on the ITV show, as he became one of the first to require help on the notoriously easy first question.