| Belfast man makes a deal of a lifetime
 By
Trevor O’sullivan
AN Irish contestant on Channel 4’s Deal Or No Deal is celebrating after
winning a huge cash prize.
Belfast man Patrick Melia scooped a whopping £50,000 after displaying
a cool head in the nerve-wracking game show.
And the part-time tour bus driver even came tantalisingly close to winning
the top prize of £250,000.
The hit show hosted by Noel Edmonds revolves around 22 sealed boxes
each containing undisclosed amounts of money from pocket change to life-changing
sums.
Patrick who is originally from Dublin was the lucky contestant chosen
from 22 to try to secure for himself the box with the most money pitting
his wits against the Banker whose sole purpose is to ensure players leave
the studio with the smallest amount of money possible.
Patrick got off to a fantastic start as the first of the 22 boxes he opened
contained just £5.
He then managed to successfully eliminate most of the blue boxes containing
the lesser amounts by the halfway stage of the hour-long show. The super-confident
Irishman then warned the Banker not to attempt to psych him out. He said:
“If he is trying to play mind games he is out of his depth!”
And the Banker was so impressed with his performance that he offered him
a whopping £25,000 after just three of his nail-biting phone calls.
Patrick proved a massive hit with the audience and repeatedly pumped his
fists in the air to show his delight at his progress, even saying at one
stage: “I feel brilliant.”
Eventually though things got more difficult and Patrick was forced to
make a vital decision.
In spite of both the £250,000 and 1p boxes still being in play Patrick
decided to play it safe and take the Banker’s offer of £50,000
saying: “I think I’m going to regret this!”
Patrick’s gamble did not pay off as he had hoped with the next box
he would have chosen containing just 1p and the final box revealing the
top prize of £250,000.
Patrick ended up being comforted by his fellow contestants who were distraught
by the unlucky turn of events.
The Irishman eventually regained his composure and spoke of his joy at
being involved.
He said: “At the end of the day The Banker was very generous and
very fair. It’s been a fabulous game and I wouldn’t have missed
it for the world.” |
