Kate Heusser, a writer from West Sussex, was a contestant on series 8 of the UK version of the show on 30 October and 2 November 2000. She walked away with £500,000, becoming the second contestant to walk away with that sum of money and the first and only female to do so.
WWTBAM Run[]
Fastest Finger First[]
| Fastest Finger First Question | |
| Put these names in order to form the full name of a well-known singer | |
| ⬥ A: Louise | ⬥ B: Ciccone |
| ⬥ C: Madonna | ⬥ D: Veronica |
From the 8 remaining contestants, only Kate (with a time of 9.94 seconds) correctly answered C-A-D-B, making it into the Hot Seat.
Kate's Run to the Million[]
| £100 (1 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these is a type of vegetable? | |
| ⬥ A: Jumper bean | ⬥ B: Runner bean |
| ⬥ C: Hurdler bean | ⬥ D: Leaper bean |
| £200 (2 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these was a hugely successful Disney film of the 1990s? | |
| ⬥ A: The Hamster Queen | ⬥ B: The Frog Prince |
| ⬥ C: The Lion King | ⬥ D: The Giraffe Princess |
| £300 (3 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| By what nickname is the cook Jamie Oliver known? | |
| ⬥ A: The Raw Restauranteur | ⬥ B: The Uncovered Cook |
| ⬥ C: The Bare Baker | ⬥ D: The Naked Chef |
| £500 (4 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these is an independent country? | |
| ⬥ A: Costa Brava | ⬥ B: Costa Blanca |
| ⬥ C: Costa Rica | ⬥ D: Costa del Sol |
| £1,000 (5 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which word follows 'fret' and 'jig' to make the names of tools? | |
| ⬥ A: Nail | ⬥ B: Hammer |
| ⬥ C: Chisel | ⬥ D: Saw |
| £2,000 (6 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is a 'homily'? | |
| ⬥ A: Potato cake | ⬥ B: Woollen hat |
| ⬥ C: Sermon | ⬥ D: Species of ape |
| £4,000 (7 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which of these abbreviations does not refer to a day of the week? | |
| ⬥ A: TGIF | ⬥ B: NYPD |
| ⬥ C: TISWAS | ⬥ D: POETS |
| The klaxon called time and Kate would return on £4,000 with all 3 lifelines still available. |
| £8,000 (8 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which name is associated with the annual publication of books about Fighting Ships and Military Aircraft? | |
| ⬥ A: June | ⬥ B: Joan |
| ⬥ C: Jane | ⬥ D: Jean |
| £16,000 (9 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Who wrote the play 'Pygmalion'? | |
| ⬥ A: Noel Coward | ⬥ B: George Bernard Shaw |
| ⬥ C: J.B. Priestley | ⬥ D: Oscar Wilde |
| £32,000 (10 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Calvados is a type of brandy made with which of these fruits? | |
| ⬥ A: Plums | ⬥ B: Cherries |
| ⬥ C: Oranges | ⬥ D: Apples |
| £64,000 (11 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| What is a cassowary? 'Phone a Friend' lifeline used | |
| ⬥ A: Fruit | ⬥ B: Bird |
| ⬥ C: Mouse | ⬥ D: Fish |
| Since she didn't have a clue, she phoned her friend Ian Lawes, who knew the answer immediately as B: Bird. |
| £125,000 (12 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Who is the First Lord of the Treasury? | |
| ⬥ A: Prince of Wales | ⬥ B: Prime Minister |
| ⬥ C: Chancellor of the Exchequer | ⬥ D: Lord Chancellor |
| £250,000 (13 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| In mythology, who was the twin of Castor? | |
| ⬥ A: Endymion | ⬥ B: Achilles |
| ⬥ C: Leander | ⬥ D: Pollux |
| This question featured in the WWTBAM straight-to-DVD documentary, Magic Moments and More, where Kate knew the answer was Pollux immediately before the answers appeared on the screen. |
| £500,000 (14 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| New Sarum is the former name of which city? '50:50' and 'Ask the Audience' lifelines used | |
| ⬥ A: Salisbury | ⬥ B: Stoke-on-Trent |
| ⬥ C: Shrewsbury | ⬥ D: Sheffield |
| Ask the Audience Results: A: 70% ⬥ B: 0% ⬥ C: 30% ⬥ D: 0% | |
| £1,000,000 (15 of 15) - Not Timed | |
| Which monarch was known as "the wisest fool in Christendom"? | |
| ⬥ A: James I | ⬥ B: Charles I |
| ⬥ C: Edward I | ⬥ D: Henry I |
| Kate didn't know, so she immediately decided to take the cheque and walk away because she didn't have any more lifelines available. The correct answer was A: James I.
Total Prize Money: £500,000 |
Sources[]
Kate Heusser's Run to the Million at ATGS (Part 1)- Kate Heusser's Run to the Million at ATGS (Part 2)
Notes/Goofs[]
- Host Chris Tarrant noted that this was the first time that any contestant had ever used the Ask the Audience lifeline on the £500,000 question. He did not remember that the Ask the Audience lifeline was previously used on a £500,000 question one prior time, in Jonathan Green's run. The difference between Green's case and Heusser's case is that Green did not also have his 50:50 lifeline available to narrow down the answer options, and that although the correct answer did get the most votes, it did not get the majority of votes, so he walked away with £250,000, whereas in Heusser's case, she had her 50:50 lifeline available to her, so she used it first, in order to narrow down the answer choices, and then asked the audience, and in her case, the correct answer did get the majority of the votes, so she went for it, and won £500,000.
- This occasion also turned out to be one of the rare occurrences in which the audience was actually right within the last 5 questions; in the majority of cases, when a contestant asks the audience within the last 5 questions, the audience is usually wrong, or the results would've been spread out.
Trivia[]
- Kate Heusser's £500,000 win was just 18 days away from Judith Keppel's record £1 MILLION win, and was also just 25 days away from John Randall's £500,000 win in the same month (November).
| Preceded by Richard Phillips |
UK Contestant (Series 8) Kate Heusser |
Succeeded by Peter Pycock |
| Preceded by Peter Lee |
UK £500,000 Winners Kate Heusser |
Succeeded by John Randall |