NEW quiz millionaire Donald Fear will treat himself to a motorhome — but he is giving most of his winnings to family members hard-hit by Covid.
Tonight viewers saw him become only the sixth contestant to scoop TV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? jackpot in its 22-year history.
The father of four, 57, successfully answered 15 questions at breakneck speed, prompting host Jeremy Clarkson to say: “It’s like sitting next to the internet.”
Astonishingly, the history and politics teacher surged to the magic million with three lifelines intact. He only used the 50/50 option.
Donald trumped his geography teacher brother Davyth, who won £500,000 on the ITV quiz show last year.
Donald, of Telford, Shropshire, has now quit his job but insists he won’t be living the high life.
He said: “Someone did ask me, ‘Are you going to buy an Aston Martin?’ I said, ‘I could get into the thing but I couldn’t get out. Not with my build’.
“But I’m not tempted at all. I’ve got a 14 reg Nissan Juke, I love it. It’s the best car I’ve ever had.”
Donald, who is married to nurse Debs, 57, admitted: “Obviously the temptation is to get on the next plane to the States or Australia or something, but not under Covid.
“So we are likely to be in this country and I rather like the thought of a motorhome, going west and to the Highlands of Scotland and going on the Caledonian plain to the Outer Hebrides. Sounds like heaven to me.
“I’d pencilled in retirement for two years time anyway, and that was one of the things. It would have to have been a second-hand motorhome then.
“Now we’d like a brand new one — there was no way we could afford it before that.”
Donald had told his students at Haberdashers’ Adams Grammar school in Shropshire — where former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a pupil — their homework was to watch Millionaire tonight.
He insists that even if the show had its usual audience — which was absent due to Covid — there was no way he could have cheated.
Millionaire’s most famous “winner” Major Charles Ingram was stripped of his triumph in 2001 after the correct answers were signalled to him by coughs from the audience.
Donald said: “The speed at which I answer, there’s no possibility of any sub-communication. I mean there’s always the possibility of humiliation.
“That poor lady this week, the science teacher. Oh my God. That a science teacher gets a question wrong and goes home with £1,000. She’s been the butt of all the jokes on Twitter.
“That could so easily happen to me, so I was lucky the questions came up, they were nice. Number 15 I knew before the options appeared. It’s a very easy quiz if you know the answers.
“No one had to do any coughing and also the level of focus and concentration I was putting in, I was unaware of my surroundings.
“It was just me and that machine and Jeremy and the question. I think an atom bomb could have gone off down the road and I wouldn’t have noticed.”
Host Jeremy, 60, was staggered by the speed and certainty with which Donald answered. But it was all such a blur that Donald can’t remember what banter the pair shared after the win.
He intends to give 70 per cent of his winnings to his family.
Many of them suffered when lockdown came into force in March and the economy went off a cliff.
Donald said: “There are some in my family who are struggling financially. Well, not now they’re not. Money isn’t everything, by any means, but you can put people in the cocoon against life’s misfortunes. And this is my chance.
“My daughter’s partner lost his job and she has gone down to part-time hours. It’s pretty clear that once furlough payments end, she will probably be out of a job as well.
“Many of the family are struggling under very high mortgage payments, my sister for instance is, she just turned 60 and she still has a mortgage which has got about eight years to run on it.”
But the loved one he can’t help with the cash is daughter Ali, 30, who is suffering infertility issues.
Donald insists he would hand over his seven-figure cheque in a heartbeat if it could allow her to start her own family.
But he said: “As far as I know the money wouldn’t make a difference. It’s an example of something where no matter how much cash I’ve got, if something can’t be fixed, it can’t be fixed.”
His other three children are Izzie, 26, Chris, 22 and Cat, 31, who already has a daughter, Emily who is 19 months old.
He described older brother Davyth, 59, of Caernarfon, North Wales, as an inspiration and a “role model in terms of learning”.
Davyth generously handed 40 per cent of his winnings to his family.
Donald said: “Now it’s me, I’m not going to miss out on this chance to make my family secure.”
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