Way back in late January/early February 2018, I took a trip
up to Glasgow to appear on Fifteen to One. After Eggheads, Only Connect and two
appearances on Brain of Britain, this was perhaps the easiest application
process with a simple application form and video involved! It was so long ago
now, I forget my feelings on the day, but I remember having two aims a) Not to
embarrass myself (which I have done before on broadcast quizzes) and b) try and
get to the final 3 in an episode…..
…..if you have seen my episodes you will know I didn’t achieve
both…..
After arriving the night before, we were whisked to the
studios around 6am. Placed in the green room, we were told we could have quite
a wait on our hands due to the nature of the show, not knowing how many would
be needed per episode and such like so we settled in for the day. I met some
great people, played board games, distracted myself and eventually got called
for an episode after quite some time in the green room.
The whole process of filming an episode is quite a long one
from the call, to make up, to waiting to go down, to getting set up for
microphones etc…..all the various podium poses follow and it’s a long slog, a
couple of hours at least, a lot of standing up….but once the game gets going it
flies by.
As you can tell from a glimpse of my face I was nervous….very
nervous which has always been my problem on broadcast quizzes. My brain felt
blank and this was evidenced by, in my first two episodes, questions I have got
right in pub quizzes a million times, wouldn’t come to me. I was very deflated
after the first two episodes, and got back to the hotel very down on my chances
to progress. I did have the benefit of a day off to tour Glasgow before my
final episode and had a great time with some local quizzers at various quizzes!
So all was not lost…
The only major talking point from my first episode was my “Wrig…..Wrangler”
issue. Wrangler was the correct answer but my failure to get the word out of my
mouth correctly meant I was denied the correct answer and out straight away! I
did feel it was harsh, especially when “Alan partridge…Steven Coogan” was later
allowed but it worked out for me in the end….
So I head into the third and final chance I had, nothing to
lose and it couldn’t have gone worse than the first two. The look of relief on
my face is clear as I got the first question right, adding to it with the
second to send me into the second round. My new goal was to hang on as long as
possible….but the round went on and I simply wasn’t getting nominated. Luck?
Right position? Who knows! But as soon as I became one of only 2 left with all
the lives the came panned out….38 questions later I was nominated, got one of
the many stopper questions and thanks to some extra luck with Rick’s choices,
ended up in the final! Lucky isn’t the word…
But, without sounding arrogant, I had a feeling if I got
into that final I had a chance. Lightspeed Quiz had given me buzzer experience
and I felt confident. I was pleased to make the solid start on the buzzer and
once I got the first three questions behind me I was quite happy with how the
game flowed. Only one silly slip, “Which Ocean….” Was all I heard and suddenly realised I needed an answer without
having paid attention! To be third on the leaderboard and score over 100
was beyond my hopes, I was happy to have
a trophy to add to my collection and eagerly awaiting to see if I made the
final…..
Overall, the experience was a great one despite the painful
performance in the first two. Glasgow is a great city to be left in for 3 days,
great company and well looked after my the production team! Sadly, I don’t
think I am able to reapply but would urge anyone else to give it a go!
