Shropshire quiz master scoops £40,000 on TV game show

Gerard Mackay, from Nesscliffe near Shrewsbury, has also taken the top prize fund of £40,000. The accountant, who works in Shrewsbury, has entered a number of shows.

And last week he appeared on Channel 4's Fifteen to One Grand Final where he beat 14 of the show's highest scorers to take the title of winner.

He said: "Watching myself winning the latest series of TV quiz show Fifteen To One and the subsequent response has been quite an experience and has been part of an exceptional year of quizzing for me.

"I have had so many congratulations even from other top quizzers such as Pat Gibson, Barry Simmonds and Dave Rainford from BBC quiz show Eggheads and Paul Sinha, from ITV's The Chase."

Fifteen To One involves 15 contestants standing in a semicircle with three green lights in front of them, which they have to prevent from going out by correctly answering general knowledge questions within three seconds. After two elimination rounds, there are three in the third and final round.

Gerard first appeared on the show in 1992 and also in 2002 and each time he reached the last five but never made the final three.

In 2010, he also appeared as part of a team on TV's Eggheads and took part in the 2011 European Quizzing Championships, held in Bruges.

"I came outside the top 100 in Europe, but have been to every EQC since and also to all the monthly Grand Prix quizzes run by the British Quizzing Association," said Gerard.

"I am currently ranked as one of the top 20 quizzers in the country."

But it is Fifteen to One which is his proudest moment.

He now has his sights on other quiz competitions and is reading up on as much general knowledge as he can.