Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? winner bought five-bed home in France

2019-03-05

Last Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? jackpot winner who bought five-bed home in south of France says £1m doesn’t buy you much these days (and he didn’t know the big answer either)

EXCLUSIVE: Ingram Wilcox, 74, won £1million on the ITV quiz show in 2006
He bought a £250,000 house in France with his winnings and lives of 500k
The retired civil servant gave £50,000 to each of his five children after win
He admitted he also didn’t know the answer to last nights £1million question

A retired civil servant who was the last contestant to win £1million on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has left the UK and lives in a £250,000 home in the south of France.

Ingram Wilcox, 74, who admitted he also didn’t know the answer to last night’s million pound question, moved across the Channel a year after his win in 2006.

He now lives near the picturesque town of Miramont-de-Guyenne, near Bordeaux, and spend his time bird-watching, reading books, and ‘pottering about.’

Living in a five bedroom house surrounded by the rolling French countryside with his second wife Pat, 56, he told MailOnline the prize was not as life changing as first thought.

Ingram Wilcox, with host Chris Tarrant after he won the mega prize, was the last person to answer the million-pound question correctly in 2006

Mr Wilcox, who said he too would have walked away from the million pound question posed to English teacher John Robinson yesterday, said he now enjoys a ‘comfortable life.’

He said: ‘Once you get past the initial euphoria of winning, it dawns on you that, yes, this is very nice, but its not actually a fantastic amount these days.

‘Even back then in 2006. At the time I lived in Bath, and at the time there were huge swathes of the town where I just couldn’t afford a house.

I have five children, so I wanted to give them a decent share. I wanted to buy a house, and then I was going to use the rest to live on the interest.

Mr Wilcox, who said he too would have walked away from the million pound question posed to English teacher John Robinson yesterday, said he now enjoys a ‘comfortable life’ living in the south of France

Mr Wilcox, pictured one of his five children, daughter Cressida, said the £1million prize was not as life changing as he first thought

Ingram Wilcox smiling and enjoying the sunshine on the beach. The 74-year-old moved across the Channel a year after his win in 2006

‘But getting a decent house out of £1million, and doing everything else I wanted to do with the money, was a lost cause.’

When he won Mr Wilcox was working as a civil servant in Chippenham, Somerset and living in a one-room flat in Bath following his divorce from first wife Rebecca.

Mr Wilcox, who married his second wife 11 years ago, kept £500,000 in the bank, and spread £250,000 to his five children. He then had £250,000 to spent on a house.

He said: ‘I looked in France. And for £250,000 you can get quite a lot.

Jeremy Clarkson (right) started presenting the show in 2018 and said he was ‘honoured’ to be asked. When Mr Wilcox won, Chris Tarrant (left) was host

Ingram Wilcox wrapped up warm and walking in Cahors, a small town in Southern France known for its red wine and municipal gardens

‘I moved down south, and for that I got a house with five bedroom, two bathrooms and a lot of land.

‘My plan to live of the interest was made before the financial crash in 2008. So I didn’t make the sort of money from it that I thought I would.

‘I love it over here, there is far more space. Driving is so much easier. I haven’t been back to the UK in four years.

‘I don’t do much now. I was semi retired when I won it, now I just potter about, I’m a bit of a twitcher, do a lot of reading, walking that sort of thing.

I’m living of the interest and a couple of pensions I had.’

‘In Bath you couldn’t leave your car unlocked in the street. It would get stolen. Nothing like that happens here.’

But he admits to having one worry – Brexit.

He said: Now I also have another cloud on the horizon. the dreaded B word.

For his £1million question, Mr Robinson was asked who out of Winston Churchill, Alec Douglas-Home, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan had not served as Foreign Secretary. (Scroll down for the correct answer)

‘Living in France its a constant worry. If there is a no deal, we will have to make quite a lot of awkward changes.’

Mr Wilcox landed the huge sum by naming Bombadier Billy Wells as the boxer who strikes the going in the introduction to J Arthur Rank films.

The previous million-pound questions asked on the hit game show

Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine? A) Henry I B) Henry II C) Richard I D) Henry V

– Answered by Judith Keppel in 2000

If you planted the seeds of Quercus robur, what would grow? A) Trees B) Flowers C) Vegetables D) Grain

– Answered by David Edwards in 2001

Which scientific unit is named after an Italian nobleman? A) Pascal B) Ohm C) Volt D) Hertz

– Answered by Robert Brydges in 2001

Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races? A) Arlington Million B) Belmont Stakes C) Kentucky Derby D) Preakness Stakes

– Answered by Pat Gibson in 2004

Which boxer was famous for striking the gong in the introduction to J. Arthur Rank films? A) Bombadier Billy Wells B) Freddie Mills C) Terry Spinks D) Don Cockell

–Answered by Ingram Wilcox in 2006

Answers: B, A, C, A and A

But the question asked on last night’s show, which saw English teacher Mr Robinson, 36, walk away with £500,000, was one he didn’t know.

Mr Robinson, from Birmingham, who has worked at Bishop Challoner Catholic College for five years, was asked who out of Winston Churchill, Alec Douglas-Home, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan had not served as Foreign Secretary.

He said on the ITV show: ‘I think it’s probably between B and C but to be honest I’m not prepared to risk £436,000.

‘I think it would take several years of teaching to take £500,000 home so I think I’m going to take the money, final answer. Considering I didn’t know the £2,000 question I think I’ve done ok.’

Mr Wilcox said today: ‘I think that is a hard question. I wouldn’t have gone for it. I would have to make a guess.

‘If I was to guess, I would go for Churchill. But I wouldn’t risk losing £436,000 on it.

‘I would have done what he did and walked away too.

‘My advice now to him now would be enjoy it. I don’t know his circumstances, but in terms of advice I would say enjoy it as much as you can.

Mr Wilcox first appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2004 but failed to get past the ‘fastest finger first’ round.

A quiz show veteran, he appeared on Mastermind, losing in the final, Brain of Britain, Fifteen to One and Countdown.

He said now he lives in France he doesn’t watch the show that handed him the huge windfall and made his famous.

He said he saw the first episode – and was unsure how it would go with Jeremy Clarkson at the helm.

He added: ‘It’s Ok I suppose. I don’t take to Jeremy Clarkson as much as Chris Tarrant, but generally Clarkson is not as irritating as I would have expected.’