Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant becomes second biggest loser in show’s history

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host Jeremy Clarkson was left astonished after a contestant lost the second largest sum of money in the show’s history.

The ITV game show was back on our screens last night, just one week after retired IT analyst Roman Dubowski was declared a £1,000,000 jackpot winner.

However, in a sharp contrast to his fortunes, participant Jen Essery Lillikakis was dealt a crushing blow as she failed to correctly answer a ‘staggering’ £500,000 question that is still confusing fans now.

The product manager from Stratford took to the host seat in an attempt to pay for an exotic honeymoon with her newlywed husband Kyri, who was seated in the audience.

After tackling the early questions with ease, the contestant secured a safety net of £64,000 after correctly guessing that the ukulele was the musical instrument closely associated with Hawaii since the 1880s.

On her £125,000 question, she then utilised her 50/50 and Ask The Host lifelines before advancing past the £250,000 question.

However, after reaching the £500,000 question, Jen’s luck took a turn for the worse when she was asked: ‘According to Guinness World Records, which of these has travelled at over 260 miles per hour during a competitive game or match?

‘Tennis ball, ice hockey puck, badminton shuttlecock or table tennis ball.’

Using her sole remaining lifeline, Phone A Friend, Jen asked her dad Chris, but he did not know the answer.

Host Jeremy then issued a stern warning, by saying: ‘You are now completely on your own and have no more lifelines. If you get this wrong, if you go for it and get it wrong, you lose £186,000.’

The Clarkson’s Farm star also pointed out how Jen could choose to not answer the question and walk away with £250,000.

She responded: ‘Would I be more annoyed at giving it a go and getting it wrong… or not giving it a go?’

Despite the former Top Gear host’s warning, Jen selected ice hockey puck, only to discover that the correct answer was in fact badminton shuttlecock.

Reacting to her loss, Jeremy said: ‘Oh my god you have just lost £186,000! It is unbelievable you took a punt on that. You need a bravery award for that.’

Jen then responded: ‘Well, that’s fine. I have won £64,000.’

The brutal loss now means that Jen holds the title of the show’s second-biggest loser, which was surpassed only by Nicholas Bennett, who answered the £1million question incorrectly last year and lost out on £375,000.

Reacting to the moment on social media, an X user called David wrote: ‘Still staggered at this £500,000 question. I’d have been all in on ice puck and shown to be clueless.’

Responding beneath, host Jeremy commented: ‘Me too.’

Elsewhere on the app, Liam also wrote: ‘Cannot believe the answer, hit with stringed racket, feathered, can’t see how with its weight and velocity it could possibly reach a speed of 260mph.’

Meanwhile, Josh questioned ‘who in their right mind throws £250k away for £64k?’ as Chris similarly asked: ‘Why she didn’t just take £250k instead of trying to win £500k when she didn’t know answer? £64k she won was nice but she have had £250k.’

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire continues on Sundays at 8pm on ITV and ITVX.

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