Lauren from St Helens made history on the BBC programme
Lauren made history on the show as she scooped up £106,000(Image: BBC)
A contestant from Merseyside burst in to tears as she claimed a whopping £106,000 prize on The Wheel. It was an exciting episode of the hit BBC programme as Lauren, an engineering apprentice from St Helens took part in the quiz show. As she rose onto the stage on the infamous chair, the 23-year-old said: “This is surreal. I can’t believe I’m here.”
A range of famous faces including Ed Gamble, Jonathan Ross, Liz Bonnin, Rev Richard Coles, Jo Brand, Francis Bourgeois, and AJ Odudu were all part of the celebrity expert cast.
Lauren was already on her way to success as she was left with two categories to claim a spot in the final. She was delighted when the wheel turned to Reverend Richard Coles for the opera category.
Richard and Lauren answered the question correctly, and the prize pot stood at a whopping £53,000. It now came to the difficult decision when the contestant had to choose which celebrity to guide her in the final.
Lauren from St Helens took part on BBC’s The Wheel(Image: BBC)
Presenter Michael McIntyre asked: “If you want to go down in Wheel history, for a humongous sum of money that would make a real difference to anyone’s life and picked AJ, you would win double the money so £106,000.”
Lauren said: “I’ve always been told to go big or go home so I’m going to go with AJ.” The final question was on the topic of “Number 1” hit songs. Michael McIntyre asked: “What is the title of Aretha Franklin’s only UK No.1 single to date?”
The options were “Respect”, “I Say A Little Prayer”, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” or “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves”.
After a short discussion with AJ Odudu, Lauren surprised everyone and went with her “gut” as she locked in “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”. Patiently awaiting the correct answer, the 23-year-old said: “I’m scared”.
The player burst in to tears as Michael revealed: “Oh my gosh. Lauren has won £106,000.
Lauren ‘went with her gut’ on the winning question on The Wheel(Image: BBC)
Lauren was in floods of tears as she hugged both Michael and AJ. She said: “I can’t breathe”. She added: “I can’t believe this has just happened, I honestly can’t. I don’t know what it was I just went with my gut this is incredible.”
Michael said: “I’ve never seen anything like that” while Lauren joked: “I can’t speak, I can’t look at all them figures.”
It was an emotional end to the show as Lauren said she can now look into buying her own home with her boyfriend. She also wanted to treat her mum and dad to a holiday to Venice.
Lauren said: “I came on this wanting to be on the show that I absolutely love watching, for an experience and something to tick off the bucket list, and to meet people I would never ever meet in person.”
The Wheel airs on BBC One and iPlayer