Classic TV game show Deal or No Deal returned to our screens last month, with presenter and comedian Stephen Mulhern at its helm.
The show sees contestants test their luck as they choose between taking home the cash amount inside a sealed box - worth anything between 1p and £100,000 - and accepting an offer from the mysterious banker.
Last night (17 December), footballing legend Michael Owen took on the banker in a charity Christmas special, but viewers have slammed the former Liverpool striker's gameplay, calling it 'pathetic' and 'tight.'
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The 44-year-old's game started off well - so well, in fact, that viewers questioned whether it was 'rigged' in his favour. Spoiler alert: it definitely wasn't!
At one point, Michael had a run of consecutively opening blue boxes, leaving just the red sums of money left in play, including the £100,000 jackpot and a healthy £25,000.
Sadly, the £100,000 was taken out and Michael was eventually left with three boxes, which held £4,000, £5,000, and the killer £25k.
At this point, the banker desperately tried to sway the sports pundit from continuing, offering him a generous £10,200.
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The jury was split: while some encouraged him to keep playing, daughter and Love Island star Gemma wasn't convinced, believing wholeheartedly that the biggest sum was in her box.
After careful deliberation, a smug Michael said two key words: 'no deal'.
But, his good luck quickly wore off when he opened Gemma’s box to find the £25k was under her lid as she'd predicted and the studio audience gasped in horror as the biggest sum left was wiped out from the game.
Left with either £4,000 or £5,000 for his chosen charity Fight for Sight - which funds research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease - the banker gave Michael one final offer of just over £4.5k.
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He once again rejected the offer, but was gutted to learn he in fact had the smaller amount of £4,000 in his box and had been beaten by the banker at his own cruel game.
Following the episode, viewers were stunned by the footballer's gameplay and slammed him for turning down the £10,000 offer on X.
One person said: "Gambling with money for charity is a bit silly, he should have dealt at £10k," as another wrote: "Pathetic - can't believe he didn't take the £10k."
Others called for the multimillionaire to pay out of his own pocket to make up the cash he'd forfeited.
"These rich people are too casual with money. Hope he coughs up the difference to his top offer," one commented.
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Another added: "He could quadruple that in a heartbeat and not even notice the difference in his bank."
Topics: ITV, TV and Film, Celebrity
Bec Oakes