HITTING the lottery jackpot is just one way to strike it rich but there have been big winners on Britain’s game shows over the years.
There are thought to be four people who have won more than £1million appearing on popular radio and TV programmes.
Graham Fletcher celebrates with his wife Lucy after his huge win on Red or Black?
Here’s how they splashed the cash.
Graham Fletcher
Carpenter Graham Fletcher, then 32, pocketed Britain’s biggest ever cash prize on British TV of a staggering £1.5m on the spin of a giant roulette wheel on ITV game show Red or Black? on September 8, 2012.
In fact, Graham, from Tilehurst, Berkshire, actually won the money in June but the episode didn’t air until later in the year.
One of the first things he and his wife Lucy, along with their three kids, did was move to a posh new house in Burghfield.
At the time of his win, he said: “Everything’s changed. I’m stress-free over money.”
“I get to see the kids more. I’m naturally a worrier and sensitive – but now I’m relaxed.
Thanks to his big win he was also able to take the family abroad for a big holiday.
Graham said: “I took my whole family on holiday to Cyprus for three weeks. I’m from a big Irish family and it’s the first time the whole family have ever been abroad together.”
Despite his big win Graham intended to carry on working and actually expand his business and his wife’s beautician business.
At the time he said: “I’ve always worked and will definitely carry on. I now have the resources to expand my carpentry business. With my bad credit, I wouldn’t have previously been able to expand the business. Now I’m taking more three more people on.
“And it’s allowed my wife to expand her beautician business.”
During the recession, the family struggled as Graham’s income shrank and they were plunged into debt, forcing him to borrow money from friends and relatives to stay afloat.
He said at the time of his win: “Six years ago, during the boom, I was earning £1,500 a week. My salary went down by two thirds during the recession. And so we got into serious debt.
“I ended up working in south London last year. I would leave home at 5am and get back at 9pm so I never saw my kids when they were awake.
“And by last winter Lucy was doing four jobs to help us get by. It got so bad, I never, ever want to be in that situation again.”
He also has plans to buy a house for each of his kids as an investment for when they grow up.
He said: “I have squandered my money in the past and I don’t want to be extravagant. I want to do everything right. I want to be cautious. I have got an opportunity to make something of my life.”
Ian Woodley
Ian Woodley was the first person on British TV to win £1m when he appeared on TFI Friday
Professional poker player Ian Woodley scooped £1m on Christmas Eve, 1999 when he appeared on the Someone’s Going to be a Millionaire section of Chris Evans’ Channel 4 TV show TFI Friday.
The section had been devised so someone was guaranteed to win the big prize for the first time on British TV.
Although Who Wants to be a Millionaire? had already started airing, no one had won the top prize then.
Ian successfully answered the question: “In the film American Pie, what was the pie made from – cherries or apples?”
Having correctly answered apples, Evans asked Ian if the money would change his life.
The dad-of-three replied that it wouldn’t as he intended to remain unemployed.
In reality though he is thought to have been working as a warehouse operative for a Sainsbury’s depot in Charlton, south-east London.
Having won the £1m, Ian became a regular on the poker tournament circuit, amassing various prize money pots over the years.
Significantly, he won the final broadcast of the PartyPoker.com Poker Den in 2005, earning a sizeable £50,000.
That money combined with the TFI Friday win, makes him one of the biggest known gameshow winners in British TV history.
The Charlton Athletic supporter, from Lee, south London, said his first big purchase would be a corporate box at his club’s ground, The Valley.
He also promised to “sort” his children, Greg, 14, Laura, 11, and Michael, eight, – and offered to support his ex-wife if she wanted to give up her job.
Sarah Lang
Sarah Lang won £1m on the ITV show PokerFace in 2006
Sarah, a housewife from Newport, Wales, had her big win as PokerFace’s first champion on the ITV show but she has pocketed more prize money by appearing on other TV shows.
In total, she’s won £1,033,100.
The mum-of-two screamed when hosts of the ITV show, Ant and Dec, told she had won the top prize on July 16, 2006.
She said at the time: “Oh my God… it’s just unbelievable. I’ve come here, answered a few questions and gone away with a million quid.
“We live in a council house and I have a huge family who could all do with some help.”
The internet trivia quiz fan also won £32,000 when she appeared on the National Lottery programme In It to Win It in 2005.
She also won £600 when she appeared on the BBC quiz show Wipeout with the rest of the prize money being won on Weakest Link.
Speaking after her PokerFace win, she told the South Wales Argus: “It really hasn’t sunk in yet. They say I’ve won £1m but I can’t believe it. It’ll be another few days before I get used to being a millionaire.”
Just a few minutes after her big win she rushed to phone her family who were back home in Newport.
She said: “All my neighbours and cousins were there and they were screaming down the phone.
“And my two little ones were absolutely over the moon, it was amazing.”
Sarah revealed that her family hadn’t gone to London to support her because they would have made her nervous.
She revealed that she would use some of the money to pay off the mortgage and other debts and they only thing she had her eye on was getting a £10,000 Ducati motorbike for her husband Nick.
Sarah said: “Other than that I’ll sit down with a pen and paper and work out what we really want,” she said.
“I’ve got a huge family, so I’ll definitely be helping them as well.”
Clare Barwick
Clare Barwick was the first person to win £1m on a British quiz show
Clare Barwick, from Worthing, West Sussex was 35 when she became the first person to win £1m on a British quiz show.
She appeared on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio on December 19, 1999.
Clare beat 32 other competitors and correctly answered the question: “Which of these two writers was really a woman – George Eliot or T S Eliot?”
She answered George Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans.
Clare said the first thing she was going to buy was a West Ham United season ticket for her son Alfie, who was then just 17 months old.
The training consultant said the money would definitely change her as she planned to quit her job but hadn’t told her boss yet.
Presenter Chris said: “It’s the first time £1m has been given away on TV or air in the whole world.”
Clare also picked up £1,500 in prize money when she appeared on the BBC’s Weakest Link on November 8, 2000.
