The 1% Club contestant left baffled by question that cost him huge fortune

A contestant was left speechless after missing out on a life-changing jackpot in one of the most tense episodes of The 1% Club. Show host Lee Mack, 56, got the chance to challenge a new group of competitors with a series of tricky questions when Brett managed to breeze through every round to the final.

The contestant seemed unstoppable as he answered every question thrown his way correctly until the very end. The show tasks players with solving logic puzzles, whittling them down until there is only one competitor left. The lucky finalist then gets the chance to answer a question that only 1 percent of the British public would be able to respond to correctly.

When Brett was faced with his final challenge, he had to make a difficult decision. Either he could take home a guaranteed £10,000, or risk it all for the staggering £96,000 jackpot and a place in the prestigious 1% Club.

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In the end, he chose to go all in. Brett was tasked with completing a series of three interlinked sentences by inserting the same four letter word in each. The challenge was making sure the same word would make sense in all three sentences.

Brett stared at the screen in disbelief as the 30 second clock began ticking down, and was clearly struggling to piece together the puzzle. As he began to run out of time he let out an audible sigh, and appeared shaken by how complex the question was.

The original sentences read: "____ I am certain that he read the man's notes. I am certain that ____ he had read the man's notes. I am certain that he had read the man's ____ notes."

When the timer sounded, a frustrated Brett told the show host: "I didn't know it. I put 'last'. I just couldn't see it."

Sadly, last is not the word Lee was looking for. The correct answer was the word 'only'.

As the answer was revealed gasps rippled through the audience, who seemed stunned by how close Brett had come to victory only to lose the jackpot at the last hurdle.

Lee tried to encourage the player, saying: "Brett, unlucky. That was a big gamble. You did brilliantly to get this far, and you have of course got your £1,000. So congratulations. Unfortunately, you didn't make it into the 1% Club, but you can walk away knowing that you did better than the rest of the people in this room tonight. Well done you!"

People watching the ITV show at home flocked to X, insisting that Brett was "robbed". One person wrote: "What a joke, the first and last sentence makes no sense at all. I feel so sorry for the guy. He was ripped off."

Another agreed: "Robbed him. How does only make sense in the bottom sentence?"

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