Jeremy Clarkson knew the answer to the £1 million question on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'

Jeremy Clarkson

Jeremy Clarkson

The 60-year-old TV host was gutted for contestant Andrew Townsley when he took home £500,000, after being stumped on the final question about motorsport and couldn't use a lifeline to ask the former 'Top Gear' presenter for help.

Instead, the former GP used the Ask the Host option to answer the £250,000 question about Table Mountain.

After the show had aired, a fan took to Twitter to ask Jeremy if he knew the answer to the question: "In the history of motorsport, which of these iconic races were held first? Le Mans 24 Hours, Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 or Isle of Man TT?"

They wrote: "Did you know the TT question?"

And Jeremy replied: "I bloody did. I wish he'd phoned a friend for Table Mountain."

Andrew, 53 - who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair - was just shy of £1 million as he used his final lifeline to phone a friend for help.

However, he ultimately decided to walk away with £500,000 when his pal was unsure of the answer.

Prior to posing the final question, host Jeremy Clarkson tells him: "This is it, the £1 million question. You'd be the sixth person ever to do it in all the years this show has been on.

"There can't be that many, I don't know how many, who even got to half a million."

But Andrew - who was on the cusp of becoming the first to scoop the top prize in 14 years - calmly replies: "This is what we are here for."

After taking the money, Jeremy gave Andrew the chance to answer the question and he got it correct, after being very tempted to take the risk.

He told The Sun newspaper: "Oh I was close. It was very tempting, being offered that much.

"I thought, 'hmm, how close am I? Sixty per cent?' But I was actually 50/50. If I still had the 50/50 lifeline I would have."


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