The best of the worst TV quiz show answers revealed
Telly quiz answers that have left viewers bemused and baffled have been compiled by a bingo company who tried the questions out on some of their customers.
Family Fortunes was the game show that generated the most daftest of answers.
The UK’s funniest and silliest quiz show answers have been revealed with The Chase and Pointless are noted as two of the UK’s most popular game shows – which ironically go out at the same time against each other on ITV and BBC One respectively.
With over a third of Brits (35%) admitting that quiz shows are their top TV indulgence it’s safe to say that the UK is a nation of quiz lovers. And with hundreds of participants taking part in quiz shows everyday, there’s plenty of opportunity for blunders.
Whether it’s down to someone’s mind going blank in the pressure of the moment, completely misunderstanding the question, or simply being a little dim, GalaBingo.com has hunted down some of the UK’s funniest quiz moments and tested their patrons to see how they fare with the same questions.
Family Fortunes had so many gaff answers that two specials were produced showcasing guest stupidity in Family MisFortunes. Classics like that have been left out of this research as there was so many in that single programme format. There are however a few classic game shows popping up as well as recent titters.. see how you’d have done…
Anne Robinson hosted The Weakest Link for BBC One.
Top of the list is BBC One’s The Weakest Link. A contestant suggested that a civilisation of apes laid the foundations for our motorways. Rather than that slightly more significant role of the evolution of Western civilisation. 36% of the bingo players got this question wrong also.
In second place it was Channel 4’s Million Pound Drop that saw a player lose £1,000,000 on their first turn, insisting that Justin Timberlake won an award for ‘protecting his film Friends with Benefits’. Host Davina corrected them, pointing out that his award was for ‘protecting the environment’, rather than for his movie. 12% of Gala Bingo players questioned got this wrong.
Now to ITV and Tipping Point where a participant couldn’t work out which pastry rhymes with ‘cronut’ to reveal the inspiration for the dessert. Instead he passed the question to another guest. If you haven’t sussed it out, the answer is ‘doughnut’. 3% of bingo gamers got it wrong when Gala asked.
Staying with ITV and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire left a player going home with nothing when they gave the first name of the author rather than the novel name when asked the title of a Jane Austen book. The answer should have been Emma. Not however as easy as we may think with 35% of bingo-ers asked getting the question wrong.
Tipping Point is fronted by Ben Shephard for ITV.
Back to Channel 4 and some self proclaimed £100k Drop ‘superfans’ lost £100,000 on the first question after they spilt their money between ‘carbonara’ and ‘puttanesca’ for the sailor-inspired Italian sauce. The answer was actually ‘marinara’. 23% of those asked got the question wrong.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire again now with a participant using his ’50:50′ lifeline for assistance and he still got the answer wrong, walking away with no money after choosing ‘front’ rather than ‘climate’ as the ‘prevailing weather conditions of a region’. Another toughie it seems however with Gala Bingo revealing 47% got this question wrong when asked.
Sticking with ITV and over to Tipping Point. When asked on which day Christmas is celebrated each year, this confused Tipping Point contestant responded with ‘Wednesday!’ Amazingly 1% of people still managed to get this wrong – December 25th of course is the obvious answer.
Davina McCall has seen some drops over the years.
Back in the days when Bamber Gascoigne used to present University Challenge over on ITV, one guest had a surprising name for Gandhi, responding ‘Goosey’ when asked for activist’s first name. 20% got this question wrong.
A participant on ITV’s The Chase had Bradley Walsh in stitches when she thought refreshment providers took a very hands-on role at football games. The answer was in fact ‘beach ball’. 59% of bingo users asked got this question wrong.
Back to Chris Tarrant fronted Who Wants to be a Millionaire and one contestant didn’t know which months have 30 days and chose ‘September’ instead of ‘June’. He left the show with no prize money. 21% got this question wrong.
The Chase again and one player didn’t know what colour the iconic New York landmark, the Statue of Liberty, is – opting for ‘pink’ instead of ‘green’. 30% got this question wrong.
Sticking with ITV’s The Chase and one contestant guest didn’t know which TV channel has a man’s name and chose ‘Stan’ instead of the award winning UKTV network DAVE. 5% got this question wrong when asked by Gala Bingo.
Bradley Walsh oversees the proceedings of The Chase for ITV.
Final two now and sticking with The Chase this contestant wasn’t too informed on history, suggesting that a 2015 £2 coin was made depicting King John holding a mobile phone. The correct answer was ‘phone’. 64% got this question wrong.
And finally more recent Who Wants to be a Millionaire host Jeremy Clarkson accidentally congratulated this guest for the wrong answer, assuring him that an ibex was indeed a type of deer. It was only when the correct answer lit up that Clarkson and the guest realised the error, immediately putting a stop to his celebrating. 75% got this question wrong.
It’s easy to laugh at silly answers when you’re watching at home, but how do people cope when it’s them in the hot seat?
Despite the questions being seen as comically easy, there wasn’t a single one which all of the GalaBingo.com test quiz participants got right. It seems going blank, misreading the question, or simply the pressure, can get to everyone.
Jeremy Clarkson has taken over Who Wants to be a Millionaire from Chris Tarrant.
The bingo company also analysed YouGov data to reveal the most popular TV quiz shows. The Chase, helmed by Bradley Walsh came in top spot, followed by Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman’s Pointless, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire currently hosted by Jeremy Clarkson.
In 2016 Bullseye host the late Jim Bowen, a former teacher turned stand-up comic who found fame on Granada Television’s The Comedians was voted Britain’s Best Game Show host in a poll by Quiz Britain. He topped the vote with 26%.
