UNBELIEVABLE! SHE HAD ALREADY WON £98,000… YET HER BANK ACCOUNT DIDN’T CHANGE FOR FIVE MONTHS. The studio erupted with cheers as Hillal Sanderson solved the final puzzle and secured a sensational £98,000 jackpot on The 1% Club. For viewers, it looked like the perfect ending. In reality, it was only the beginning of an unexpected wait. Even after filming wrapped, Hillal returned home with nothing but the memory of her incredible victory, knowing she would have to keep the secret from her family—and wait months before seeing a penny of her prize. The real story began after her historic win… and it caught many viewers completely off guard.
I won The 1% Club’s £98k jackpot but five months later I’ve still received nothing from ITV
Contestant Hillal shocked her family with her five figure win as they were unaware she went on the show.
A CONTESTANT on Lee Mack’s quiz show The 1% Club hasn’t received her winnings from ITV, despite filming months ago.
This weekend’s episode of the quiz show was cause for celebration as contestant Hillal Sanderson won a whopping £98k. However, the episode was filmed five months ago and Hillal still hasn’t seen a penny of her winnings.
The popular show returned to screens in February, putting hundreds of competitors through their paces.
However, while many of the questions stumped contestants in the studio and viewers at home, contestant Hillal Sanderson progressed to the final round on Saturday night.
“What letter completes this sequence?” the 30-year-old from Crewe was asked, before seeing the letters ‘S M H D W M?’ on the screen in front of her.
Hillal quickly locked in her question, while Lee, 55, watched on with intrigue.
“I’ve put Y. So it’s seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years,” she explained to him. Lee quickly revealed that was correct, and the studio erupted in celebration as she’d just won £98k.
After winning, Hillal went home to celebrate with her husband, but she was told she’d need to wait a while before receiving her winnings.
Hillal was told she’d have to wait a while for her cash
“It’s made very clear from the beginning that you don’t receive the winnings until 30 days after it’s aired. I’ve still not got that yet. But it is made very clear, that’s what the process is, I’m waiting patiently now,” she explained to the Mirror.
“It’s not a surprise once you’ve won. You’re not blindsided by that at all. It’s very clear what the process is. The team are really good and really supportive as well,” she added.
Hillal will have to wait until the end of March before she gets to splash her cash, but she’s already been planning what she wants to do with it.
“We don’t want to blow it in one go. We’ll probably use it for a few holidays over the next few years,” she admitted.
Hillal continued: “We wouldn’t spend it on something we wouldn’t ordinarily spend money on. It just makes you feel a bit more comfortable in life. I’ll go out and spend a little bit.”
She said she would love to use some of the money to pay or a tour of the EastEnders set, although that isn’t usually available.
The soap lover even joked about giving the team a “bribe” to get a private tour of the BBC set. “I don’t think that would be possible, but we can hope,” she said.
When the episode aired on Saturday, Hillal had a viewing party with her family as they didn’t know she’d appeared on the show.
“We had our family around to watch it. They didn’t know, so that was a big surprise,” she explained.
“I had to keep a straight face all the way through watching it, but I was shaking inside, just wanting to scream and get excited. It was a good moment.
“My grandparents and everyone didn’t know, so it was nice to see their faces and the surprise, but it was very, very hard to keep it a secret.”
The 1% Club continues on Saturday at 8.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
