Father speaks out after daughter faced one of the worst Who Wants to be a Millionaire losses in show's history
The father of a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant who became one of the show's biggest losers in history has spoken out.
As anyone familiar with the iconic ITV gameshow will know, you need to be willing to take a gamble in order to reach the seven-figure prize. Fortune favours the brave and all.
But for every Roman Dubowski who steps into the hot seat and bags a million, there are plenty more unlucky souls who take a swing and a miss.
And if you're really unlucky, you could end up like Jen Essery Lillikakis, a recent contestant who lost out on £186,000 after taking a punt on a £500,000 question and got it wrong.
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Lillikakis was sitting on £250,000 when she was asked the following question: "According to Guinness World Records, which of these has travelled at over 260 miles per hour during a competitive game or match?"
The suggested answers were: tennis ball, ice hockey puck, badminton shuttlecock and table tennis ball. The correct answer was 'badminton shuttlecock', however Lillikakis incorrectly guessed 'ice hockey puck' after using her final lifeline to phone her father.
"Oh my God, you have just lost £186,000! It is unbelievable you took a punt on that," host Jeremy Clarkson told her. "You need a bravery award for that."
Lillikakis' father has now spoken out about the incident, revealing that he'd tried to tell his daughter to 'take the money', a message which didn't make it back to her.
"I think I actually said - after they'd stopped recording me - 'take the money', but that didn't turn up on the show," Chris Essery told MailOnline.
"They cut you off after 30 seconds. You kind of realise you could have said a bit more, but time was up."
Despite his daughter losing out on hundreds of thousands, Essery said that he was ultimately proud of her performance, adding: "I think she did really well and came away with a good amount of money.
"There is no blame at all. Of course not - you throw the dice, don't you? Everyone watching at home thinks they know what it's like."
It would appear the positive approach to losing runs in the family as well, as Lillikakis was able to focus on the positives, telling Clarkson at the time: "Well, that’s fine. I've also won £64,000."
Which contestants have lost the most money on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
These contestants are probably still kicking themselves after taking a gander on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and it massively blowing up in their faces.
Rob Mitchell - lost £218,000 (2003)
Rob has reached the £500,000 question when he was faced with the following brain teaser: “How many inches tall is an Oscar statuette? Eight and a half / Eleven / Thirteen and a half / Sixteen.”
He still had his Phone a Friend lifeline, so he phoned his sister-in-law, who said she 'couldn't even guess'.
While most would have given up at this stage, Rob decided to guess 'eleven'.
The answer was actually thirteen and a half, and he ended up walking away with just £32,000.
Duncan Bickley - lost £218,000 (2000)
Duncan was asked the following for £500k: "What was the name of Amy Johnson's plane in which she flew solo to Australia in 1930? Achilles / Pegasus / Hercules / Jason."
He ended up using his 50/50, and was left with Pegasus and Jason.
He told then-host Christ Tarrant 'it's gotta be Pegasus, isn't it' because Pegasus is a winged horse, while Jason 'has nothing to do with flying'.
That reasoning lost him £218,000, and he walked away with £32,000.
Nicholas Bennett - lost £375,000 (2025)
Nicholas has the dubious honour of being the contestant who lost the most money on the UK version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? after giving the wrong answer for the final question.
For £1 million, he was asked: "Which of these words, each coined by a famous writer, was derived from the title of a fairy tale about three princes? Pandemonium / Serendipity / Utopia / Yahoo."
He used his Ask the Host lifeline, and Jeremy Clarkson didn't have a clue, and then he called his roommate, Meg, who didn't know either.
Nicholas responded: "Well, we'll see what happens," and guessed Yahoo.
The answer, unfortunately, was Serendipity. He lost £375,000, and walked away with £125,000.
Topics: ITV, TV, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Entertainment, Jeremy Clarkson
Brenna Cooper