Couple's 'secret code' and love of Britpop helps them to £1m on Ant and Dec's Limitless Win
A husband's love of Britpop helped him and his wife win a record jackpot on an ITV1 game show.
NHS workers Helen and Charlie, from Suffolk, scooped the £1m prize on Ant and Dec's Limitless Win by answering a question about Blur and Oasis.
And the couple, who say they will use the money to pay off their mortgage, deployed a secret code they agreed on before the show to decide who would answer the crucial question.
Charlie, 47, explained: “On the morning of the record, we talked about having a code between us should a question come up that one of us was absolutely 100% certain about.
“That way we could go for the big answer if it came along. We decided to use the code ‘I know, know the answer’.
“As soon as that question came up, I realised that I knew, knew it – 100% – so there was nothing to be nervous about. The only time we realised the scale of it was when we locked in the answer and the whole audience gasped.
“But although I knew the answer, the only reason we were able to walk away with the money is because Helen 100% trusted me to lock the answer in – that level of trust means more to me than the money ever will.”
Charlie, an NHS finance manager, said he was absolutely confident he knew the answer to the crucial £1m question, which was: "2024 marks how many years since Blur beat Oasis to the UK number one spot with the song Country House". The answer is 29.
He said: "I have been into indie music since the late 80s and throughout the whole explosion of the scene in the early/mid 90s.
"I love both Blur and Oasis and had seen Blur at Mile End stadium in London in the summer of '95 where I think they debuted Country House.
"I then saw Oasis three times in '95/96 and I also remember that the first conversation I had when I arrived for my first term at uni in '95 was about Blur vs Oasis.
"So I guess I must have filed the whole Blur/Oasis thing next to significant events in my life, which also meant that there was no way I could be wrong."
Charlie, who loves general knowledge, and Helen, 49, who admits to a competitive side, took on the quiz during the second episode of series three.
The husband and wife first met on a blind date after Charlie’s mother suggested the meeting.
Before winning, the couple said they wanted to spend the money on returning to Hawaii, where they went on a honeymoon, with their children.
Ant McPartlin asked Charlie why he was “so calm” when he was “hyperventilating” at seeing the total prize money.
When they won, Ant and Dec jumped around the stage while Charlie and Helen embraced.
Helen called the moment “surreal”.
“Honestly it’s like a dream,” she added.
The married couple then lost lives when they were asked a question about the weight of Marvel character Captain America’s shield.
Unsure of an answer about Nasa’s Perseverance Rover on Mars, the pair cashed out at £1m.
“It’s been amazing from start to finish, it’s going to take a while to sink in, I think,” Helen said.
Back stage, they seemed emotional after winning.
After the show aired, Charlie said: “We are going to take our time deciding what to do as this will change things significantly for us.
“We will pay off our mortgage and Helen has a significant birthday this year, so we are planning to go to New Zealand to see one of Helen’s closest friends who lives there.
“We also need a new second-hand car which might now be a bit nicer than we were planning. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us so we will use the majority of it to set us and our children up for the future.”
He said they first told Helen’s mother and father, who were on holiday at their house, and “their jaws dropped when we told them how much”.
Previously, the TV game show saw Katherine and Will win £500,000 on series one. Last week, sisters Tina and Tracy won £100,000.
Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win season three continues on Saturday on ITV1 and ITVX.
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