£1m question stumps quiz king

Big winner: Peter Lee with his prize cheque

Would-be millionaire Peter Lee is to be invited to visit the town which cost him £500,000 on the TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

The retired Naval officer from west Wales could have doubled his eventual £500,000 win on the hit show if he had been a little more familiar with the County Durham town of Chester-le-Street.

I don't know where I am or what I am doing. I don't even know what day it is

Winner Peter Lee

The question asked - which county cricket side was based at Chester-le-Street? - had people in the North East of England screaming at their TV sets.

But Mr Lee, 65, from Llandygwydd, near Cardigan was clearly stumped by the question.

Chester-le-Street District Council leader Malcolm Pratt has now said he would invite the Welshman to a one-day international match between England and the West Indies at the cricket ground in July.

Mr Lee won the biggest prize to date on TV's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - £500,000.

The delighted 65-year-old contestant said: "I don't know where I am or what I am doing. I don't even know what day it is."

Winnings

Mr Lee, the first person even to see the £1m question, said he would probably spend some of the cash visiting two great grandchildren in the US who he has never met.

He decided to collect his winnings after he was asked which county cricket side was based in Chester-le-Street. The correct answer was Durham.

Mr Lee, from Llandygwydd, near Cardigan, Wales, admitted: "I had no real idea about the million pound question - I don't even follow cricket."

But he added: "It isn't £1m I've lost - it's £500,000 I've won."

'Amazed'

His wife of 28 years, Sue, was not at the Elstree studios in Hertfordshire to see his grilling by host Chris Tarrant at the recording on Monday - but he rang her immediately after his win.

On the brink of a million pounds.....

"She was amazed I had won so much," said Mr Lee, a Royal Navy petty officer for 25 years who later worked in the dairy industry.

"She didn't believe it and neither could I really. She immediately got in the car and drove to London and got here at 4am."

Until recently he and his wife had spent four years caring for her mother and father who have now died of cancer and they now plan to enjoy the winnings.

"It would be lovely to sit back and think of something else," said Mr Lee.

Having recently bought a second-hand Range Rover, they had no desire to buy any luxuries or even move from their bungalow.

But he said his garage needed some attention and the garden needed tidying up.

... settling for the £500,000 instead

"I joked to Chris that I wouldn't mind getting Charlie Dimmock to do my garden."

Mrs Lee, 54, will probably give up her job as a receptionist. Prior to the screening of Tuesday evening's show Mr Lee had not told his three children from his first marriage - Kevan, David and Martina - of his good fortune.

None of his friends at home had been told either.

Mr Lee said: "We were told not to say anything, so I haven't told anyone yet.

"It will be a bit of a surprise for them."

With two great grandchildren in San Diego he has never met, he said he would probably use the cash to visit them.

Questions not 'dumbed down'

He was particularly embarrassed about having struggled over one question.

When asked which language the word corgi comes from, he sought the help of the audience - the answer is Wales.

Mr Lee is only the third person to win £250,000 or more

"I thought if I blew this I would never be allowed back in Wales," he said.

Later he phoned his friend Derek Ford to clarify which impressionist painter had a son who became a successful film director.

The answer was Renoir.

After the show, Chris Tarrant said: "The reaction in the studio was fantastic and the warmth from the audience towards him as he went on was fantastic.

"We haven't changed anything and we haven't dumbed down the questions. Some of the ones this week have been really hard.

"People are better at playing the game now. They understand some of the ways to progress and marshal their forces.

"I thought that final question would have been very easy to quite a few viewers."

Tarrant dismissed Chris Evans' recent competition on his TFI Friday show where he gave away a million pounds on Christmas Eve.

He said: "It's an irrelevance. Ours is a successful series and that was purely for publicity."

To see the questions Mr Lee got right - and the one he couldn't answer - click here.