‘I played The 1% Club – here’s the hack I used to get on TV’

Heidi Phillips got through her audition despite getting the first answer wrong (Picture: ITV)

A former contestant of The 1% Club has opened up about her time on the ITV gameshow – and has revealed the secret trick she used to get on TV.

The Lee Mack-hosted quiz series, which started in 2022, sees 100 players attempting to solve tricky brain games to win a cash prize of £100,000.

Before the game begins, members of the public are asked to answer the same logic games and puzzles, with the one with the fewest correct answers being ranked as the hardest (1%) question.

15 questions whittle the contestants down from 100 as each wrong answers sees a player eliminated, until there is just one contestant – or a handful of contestants – left standing.

Ahead of the final round, the remaining players have a chance to either share £10,000… or take a stab at the question only 1% of public responders got right.

Heidi Phillips, 49, who appeared on The 1% Club in January 2025, managed to get to the 30% question before being knocked out of the competition.

Fancy tackling The 1% Club? Here’s how to get on! (Picture: ITV)

Speaking to Fruity Slots, she explained how she got on TV in the first place: ‘I saw a post on Facebook and filled out the form and submitted a video audition telling them a little about myself. That was in June 2024.

‘[At my audition] I tried to showcase my personality. I’ve worked as an entertainer before, so I’m good in front of people. I made silly jokes that if I won the prize, I’d spend it on opening a trifle sandwich shop.’

She continued: ‘That would be my advice to anyone trying to get on the show. When they ask how you’ll spend the winnings, don’t say something boring like paying off the mortgage. Give a really wild answer.

Heidi made it to the 30% question during her appearance (Picture: ITV / The 1% Club)

‘It made me stand out. We did a mock quiz and I got the first question wrong, so I didn’t exactly shine on that. But I told the producers funny stories and I think they warmed to me and my answers.’

Heidi then revealed that if anyone fancies taking home the £100,000 via nefarious means, the show’s invigilators and producers will step in to make sure you don’t make off with an unfairly won prize.

‘If they go back through filming and see you glanced over at another contestant’s screen before answering, you’ll forfeit the prize. That’s not happened yet but it was a stern warning.’

Make sure your audition is as interesting as Heidi’s (Picture: Instagram) The 1% Club started on ITV during April 2022 (Picture: ITV)

Back in February, contestants like Heidi apparently wouldn’t have had to work too hard – or stare at their competitors’ screens – to answer what was supposed to be the toughest question in the game.

During an episode two months ago, fans of the show declared the final question – that none of the players answered correctly – was apparently incredibly obvious.

The 1% question was: The words below share a specific pattern. Why could VOTING also be part of the group? The words listed were bandleader, nickelodeon and silverback.

Lee then explained that the link between the three was that the words contained a metal – including lead, nickel, silver and tin – hidden within their letters.

Watch The 1% Club on ITV, 8.20pm on Saturday, and stream on ITVX.

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