The 1% Club Makes History… FIVE FINALISTS, ONE WORD, And A Record-Breaking £99,000 Jackpot! With £99,000 on the line, four finalists admitted they had no idea how to solve Lee Mack’s final anagram. But Matthew, in his bright orange shirt, trusted his instincts — and one correct answer made him the biggest winner in the show’s history! Could you have solved it under the same pressure?

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The 1% Club: Matthew Makes ITV Quiz Show History With Record-Breaking £99,000 Jackpot

Matthew secured a place in The 1% Club history after correctly answering the show’s final question and winning an astonishing £99,000 — the biggest jackpot ever claimed on the ITV quiz at the time of the episode.

The dramatic victory came during Saturday’s instalment of the programme, hosted by Lee Mack. With the remaining contestants unable to solve the final puzzle, Matthew took a chance on his answer and emerged as the sole winner of the prize pot.

Lee Mack on The 1% Club.

Matthew Conquers The 1% Club’s Ultimate Challenge

The 1% Club brings together 100 contestants to compete for a potential £100,000 prize fund by tackling 15 questions designed to test their logic and reasoning skills.

The game begins with a question that 90% of the population surveyed answered correctly. Each subsequent round becomes more difficult, eventually leading to the show’s notoriously challenging 1% question — one that only a tiny fraction of the public is expected to solve.

In this episode, five contestants were still competing when they reached the final challenge. Their last test was an anagram that required them to identify the correct answer under pressure.

While the other four finalists admitted they had no idea what the solution could be, Matthew decided to trust his instincts and put forward a guess.

It proved to be the decision that changed everything.

The One Word That Won Matthew £99,000

Overhead view of the "30 Seconds" game show set.

After a tense pause, Lee Mack confirmed that Matthew had found the correct answer: “elephant.”

Matthew, who appeared on the show wearing glasses and an orange shirt, immediately broke into a broad smile. He celebrated with a fist pump as the scale of his achievement became clear.

Lee congratulated the contestant, announcing: “Congratulations Matthew! You are the winner to everything in the prize pot! That’s £99,000!”

The win marked a major milestone for the ITV quiz. Before Matthew’s success, only three other contestants had managed to win The 1% Club, making his achievement particularly notable.

Viewers also praised his performance on social media, with one fan highlighting how calmly he handled the pressure.

“Huge credit to you Matthew honestly that is sublime!

“Handled the pressure well, enjoy the prize.”

Matthew’s victory was all the more memorable because his fellow finalists had been unable to find an answer to the final puzzle. His willingness to commit to a solution ultimately earned him the entire £99,000 prize pot.

The 1% Club Has Also Faced Questions Over Its Answers

Man in orange shirt smiling on game show.

While Matthew’s win gave viewers a reason to celebrate, the programme has also attracted debate over the wording and answers of some of its puzzles.

In a previous episode, an animal-themed challenge prompted viewers to question whether the show’s explanation was correct.

Contestants were asked to identify animal names hidden within a sequence of letters, without rearranging them. The puzzle read:

PHEASANTORTOISEALION

Lee Mack revealed that six animal names could be identified: pheasant, sealion, ant, seal, tortoise and lion.

However, the answer did not satisfy everyone watching at home. Some viewers took to social media to challenge the inclusion of particular words, especially “ant”.

One frustrated viewer wrote: “#The1PercentClub An ant is NOT an animal! Outrage!”

The disagreement sparked further discussion about how the puzzle should be interpreted and whether all the suggested answers fitted the rules as viewers understood them.

Other Contestants Have Faced Very Different Outcomes

The 1% Club host.

Matthew’s record-breaking jackpot stands in contrast to other episodes in which contestants have struggled with the show’s challenges.

In one instalment, a player successfully solved a question described as the programme’s “hardest question ever”. In another, contestants missed out on a substantial £96,000 prize after failing to answer a question that some viewers later labelled the “easiest ever”.

Such contrasting results are part of what makes The 1% Club compelling: a puzzle that appears straightforward can prove surprisingly difficult, while a contestant willing to think differently may find the solution that others miss.

For Matthew, everything came down to one final anagram. By identifying “elephant” when the other finalists drew a blank, he walked away with £99,000 and set a new jackpot record for the ITV quiz show.