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How many people have won Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? From Eggheads' Judith Keppel to Pat Gibson

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PA

A contestant came painfully close to the £1 million top prize during Tuesday's episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, narrowly missing out on joining a very small club of people who have answered all 15 questions correctly.

Andrew Townsley blitzed through 14 questions and made it to the final one with a lifeline still in place, but decided to take home £500,000 instead of gambling on the final question.

If Townsley had won the final round, he would have joined the five people who have won the Millionaire top prize in the show's history - six if you count Charles Ingram, the subject of the infamous 'coughing major' cheating scandal.

Millions tuned into watch ITV's Quiz in April, which looked back Charles Ingram's appearance on the show in 2001, and the accusations that he cheated his way to win the £1million top prize.

Despite answering all of his questions correctly, producers grew suspicious and Ingram was never handed his money. He was later convicted alongside his wife Diana and fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock of conspiracy to obtain a valuable security by deception.

But Ingram wasn't the only person to crack the final question. Here is the full list of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? jackpot winners...

How many people have won the jackpot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

The full list of £1 million winners is surprisingly short.

In total, just five people have won the top prize - six, if you include Ingram.

Who has won the £1million prize?

1. Judith Keppel

Keppel was the first to win the show (PA)
Keppel was the first to win the show (PA)

Judith Keppel was the first contestant to win the top prize in November 2000, two years after the show's launch.

A garden designer by trade, Keppel has now gone on to make a successful career out of quiz shows and is now part of the brainiacs on BBC's Eggheads.

2. David Edwards

Edwards won in April 2001 (PA)
Edwards won in April 2001 (PA)

Edwards was the second person to win, bagging the £1million just a few months after Keppel in April 2001.

A physics teacher by trade, Edwards was no stranger to TV quiz shows having been a Mastermind champion in 1990. He appeared on Are You An Egghead? in 2008 and 2009, but lost on both occasions, the second time to fellow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? winner Pat Gibson.

3. Robert Brydges

Robert Brydges was a banker who lived in Holland Park at the time of his win (PA)
Robert Brydges was a banker who lived in Holland Park at the time of his win (PA)

Brydges won the £1million only a few days after Ingram's appearance on the show in September 2001.

An Oxford-educated banker from Holland Park, Brydges appeared on the celebrity version of the show alongside Judith Chalmers in 2003, winning £32,000 for charity.

4. Pat Gibson

Gibson is now a noted quiz winner (PA)
Gibson is now a noted quiz winner (PA)

Irish-born Gibson became the fourth winner of the show in April 2004, and his appearance was notable since he had two lifelines left when he reached the final question.

Gibson went on to become a multiple quiz champion, and is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. He has won Mastermind, Mastermind Champion of Champions, Brain of Britain (a show in which he came third in two years later) and Are You An Egghead? He now appears as a panellist on Eggheads, alongside Judith.

5. Ingram Wilcox

Wilcox appeared on Mastermind in 1980 (PA)
Wilcox appeared on Mastermind in 1980 (PA)

Wilcox became the fifth and last person to scoop to the top prize, winning in September 2006.

An ex-civil servant and father of five, the 74-year-old came third in Mastermind in 1980. He is believed to have retired and is now living in the south of France with his wife.

Read more

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