Man who won £99k TV prize kept it secret from his family for a year

5 May 2023, 08:38 | Updated: 5 May 2023, 08:57

Daniel O’Halloran beat 99 other people on ITV’s The 1% Club to take home the huge prize of £99,000.

A man who won £99,000 on a television quiz show has revealed he had to keep it a secret from his family for almost a year.

Viewers watched Daniel O'Halloran beat 99 people on ITV quiz show The 1% Club on Saturday to take home the huge top prize.

Presented by Lee Mack, the show sees an audience of 100 people asked increasingly difficult questions.

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But while Daniel’s episode only aired a few days ago, the series was actually filmed last July, which means he was forced to keep his success quiet.

Opening up about how difficult it was to keep his winnings secret, Daniel told the Liverpool Echo: “It was very difficult, there were some moments I nearly blurted it out or my family would ask me and I couldn’t keep the smile on my face.

“I only told my grandma and a few friends. When they were watching it, they couldn’t believe I’d done it. It was the best thing to see.

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"They were in total shock - they said some things you probably couldn’t print in the paper. They couldn’t believe I’d kept it secret.”

The 1% Club official Twitter account also shared a Tweet about their new winner, writing: "We filmed last weeks show a while ago.

"Turns out that the winner Daniel told his family he took the 10k so that he could surprise them all when they watched together at the weekend! #The1PercentClub #WINNER #saturdaynight #surprise".

Meanwhile, Daniel also revealed he ‘lost control of his body’ when he won the show last year and was ‘in total shock’.

“I was quite confident in getting to the latter stages of the show, but I never in my wildest dreams imagined taking home that much money,” he said.

“I thought if I got to £10,000 with no money to fall back on, I’d take the £10,000 and wouldn't gamble.”

Since the episode aired on ITV, Daniel said he’s felt like a celebrity, with people in shops and in the streets approaching him.

But despite having bagged the cash prize almost a year ago, Daniel still hasn’t received the cash prize.

He told the Daily Mail: “Even now I don't have the money because it comes in 30 days after the show airs.”