Man kept £99k TV prize secret to surprise family

Daniel O'Halloran won the top prize on the ITV quiz show The 1% Club

A man who won £99,000 on a television quiz show has said he kept the win a secret for almost a year so he could surprise his family.

Daniel O'Halloran from Wirral scooped the top prize on the ITV show The 1% Club when it was filmed in last July.

The 24-year-old said his relatives were "huge fans" and they knew he had won £10,000 but had no idea he had risked it all for the grand prize.

"They were totally shocked when they watched it," he said, "It was incredible, everyone went nuts".

Daniel O'Halloran (centre) wanted to surprise his family who are big fans of the show

The plant operator from Bebington, who describes himself as "not academic but good on logic" said it was "tough" to keep his win a surprise and had only shared the news with his grandmother.

"I had to tell someone, so it was our little secret," he said.

Mr O'Halloran, had only been asked by producers not to reveal the win on social media before the show was aired last weekend, but felt he had to keep the "fun surprise" for when his family tuned in.

"I've never been on TV before and this was the first time I'd applied for anything like this," he said.

"I never thought I would get that far. I'm not an academic, I didn't want to carry on with education after school, but I think I do quite well in pressured situations".

Mr O'Halloran, 24, says he is "not academic but good on logic"

Mr O'Halloran, who left school at 18 with A Levels in Spanish, PE and General Studies, said he "lost control" when he realised he had won and only later found out he had actually "done a dance".

"It was crazy. I was so shocked and excited, just an incredible moment," he said.

He is set to receive the cash winnings at the end of this month, 30 days after the broadcast, and plans to take his family to festivals throughout the summer.

A spokesman for The 1% Club said Mr O'Halloran's win was a "brilliant moment" and "Daniel played so well and so courageously".