Mablethorpe quiz expert wins The 1% Club

​Jon Harper, 71, appeared on Saturday (April 18)’s first episode of the second series of The 1% Club, hosted by Lee Mack, and went on to win £10,000.

Jon is well-known for his quizzes, as he is the founder of the Mablethorpe Quiz League and hosted many lockdown quizzes during the Covid-19 pandemic, and thought that he might do well knowing a lot of general knowledge from his 30 years of quizzing.

He applied online and passed a video audition, and then was asked to go along to the filming of the episode in Manchester.

Before the show, members of the public are asked a list of questions, and based on the answers, it displays statistically what percentage of the UK's population should get each question correct.

In the studio, 100 contestants are asked a series of questions beginning with easy ones, that 90 percent of the country can answer, to difficult ones that five percent of the country can answer – but have nothing to do with remembering facts, they’re all about logic and common sense.

At the start of the show, each contestant receives a £1,000 stake, and if they get any question wrong, they are eliminated from the game and the £1,000 stake is transferred into the prize pot.

Whoever gets furthest into the quiz wins £10,000, unless they decide to play on to the final one percent question, where what remains in the prize pot is played for – which on the night was a whopping £93,000.

As the questions became harder and harder, Jon was named the winner after five of the final six contestants answering the five percent question got the question wrong, which asked contestants to identify what was the next in a series of numbers.

“I was sat in the hotel room the night before and I had a vision that I'd be on stage with Lee Mack, and that’s what happened,” Jon said, "I’ve had to keep it quiet since then!”

Jon said he was “shocked” when he was announced the winner, and told host Lee Mack he was hoping to spend the prize money on a once in a lifetime trip to America.

"I had to put my hand over my mouth to not swear,” he said, “I was so surprised I’d won, I thought that if I know these things then other people would too.”

When asked if he wanted to gamble his £10,000 winning by answering the one percent question, Jon said: “I daren’t go home without any money – if I take too much people will want to marry me!”

When 52-year-old Lee said he would marry him if he wins £93,000, Jon quipped that he doesn’t collect antiques – much to the delight of the audience – and decided to keep his £10,000.

Jon said Lee Mack is just as funny and down to earth as he appears on TV: “He was one of the most genuine blokes people I’ve ever met, he was lovely,” he said.