A COUPLE stunned Pointless quiz show host Alexander Armstrong when they bounced back from a complete wipe out to scoop the £8,500 jackpot on a basketball question.
And now Tintern pair Simon and Leila Phillips aim to splash out with their winnings… on a new bathroom!
The duo became members of the ‘200 club’ in their first appearance on the popular BBC1 show last week by getting both their opening answers completely wrong.
Contestants have to find correct, but obscure, answers to general knowledge questions, but failed to give one in their debut, aired on Tuesday, March 14.
But next day was a totally different story as they went all the way to the final, where Simon’s basketball knowledge gave a correct ‘pointless’ answer – one which hadn’t been picked by a survey of 100 people.
Before guessing correctly, show host Alexander Armstrong said: “I can’t remember anyone from the 200 club coming back and doing this before, and it’s a big jackpot.”
Leila said Welsh football or Eurovision would go down well as a jackpot subject, while Simon wanted American basketball or food.
And their luck was in as North American sporting achievements ticked Simon's box, alongside the choice of modern rock groups, chemistry or comedy drama.
They had to identify a ‘pointless’ Ice Hockey Hall of Fame star, NBA Basketball Most Valuable Player or baseball player with 500 home runs.
And Simon’s choice of basketball star Karl Malone went all the way to the bottom of the Pointless countdown, scooping the jackpot.
Leila, whose family run the White Monk shop and tea rooms next to Tintern Abbey, said: “It would be amazing to go on a Eurovision road trip, or have a new bathroom.”
Simon added: “We should probably go to America and Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of basketball. And we’re already fantasising about splashboards and scented candles.”
Show quizmaster Richard Osman was just as impressed with their comeback, saying: “There’s one happy bathroom salesman in Chepstow right now. You took that luck of a subject you knew and ran with it.”