Deputy bids for a TV fortune and wins £1,500
A deputy made a surprise appearance on television on Saturday night on a primetime nationwide game show.
And nobody was more surprised than Chris Blin's family, who had gathered with his mother to watch the Wheel of Fortune on ITV1, without him telling them that he was going to be popping up on their screens.
The deputy was one of the weekly show’s three contestants, vying for a chance to win up to £50,000 by spinning the wheel and solving word puzzles.
While the winner came away with £31,500, Deputy Blin was happy to pick up £1,500.
‘I was dreading winning nothing,’ he admitted.
He decided to apply to the show in order to do something different.
‘It was one of those challenges in life. You have the political world which is a lot of serious things, and this was something different.’
His mother watches the programme and was in hospital when it was broadcast, so he arranged for himself and other family members to be with her at the time for a surprise.
He expected his sons, 14 and 19, to be embarrassed.
‘But they were really proud. They also said they could not have done any better.’
After applying in September, he said he was surprised to be contacted by the producers inviting him to be interviewed via Teams. He went on to take part in an online mock version of the game with other hopeful contestants.
Filming took place in November in Manchester and he ended up having a longer stay than he planned, with bad weather leading to him spending an extra two nights at the hotel where the production company had put him up with the other contestants. Fortunately, the company covered all the costs.
The deputy said he was a fan of Graham Norton and was pleased to have met him. ‘He was very professional.’
All the episodes of the current series were filmed in one weekend, and it took about 90 minutes to record his programme. ‘The organisation and the crew were amazing,’ said Deputy Blin.
There was good camaraderie among the contestants, he said, and he was pleased that the eventual winner walked away with such a good prize. ‘He deserved it. He’d had such a difficult time.’
He said he planned to spend his winnings on a short holiday.
And although he enjoyed himself, he has no plans to apply to any other TV game shows at the moment.
‘This was an experience in itself,’ he said. ‘It was an excellent way to spend a weekend.’
