A contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? used two lifelines on the £1m question – only to lose.

Sunday’s instalment of the ITV show saw Jeremy Clarkson welcome Nicholas Bennett, from West Hampstead, who attempted to win some cash.

The University Challenge alum appeared to get through the first several questions with ease, and soon found himself playing for the £1 million jackpot. 

Jeremy read out the question: ‘Which of these words, each coined by a famous writer, was derived from the tale of of a fairytale about three princes?’

The options Nicholas had to choose from were A) Pandemonium, B) Serendipity, C) Utopia and D) Yahoo.

From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail’s new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.

A contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? used two lifelines on the £1m question – only to lose

Sunday’s instalment of the ITV show saw Jeremy Clarkson welcome Nicholas Bennett, from West Hampstead, who attempted to win some cash

Unsure of the answer, Nicholas opted to use his Ask Jeremy lifeline, but the host was also not sure on the right answer.

He also decided to use the last lifeline – Phone A Friend – but his friend ended up not knowing the answer.

Before giving his final answer, Jeremy reminded Nicholas that £375,000 was on the line.

He went for D) Yahoo, his initial thought, but it turned out the correct answer was B) Serendipity.

Despite the devastating loss, Nicholas optimistically said: ‘Still get £125,000.’

‘Oh my giddy aunt,’ Jeremy said afterwards, before wondering: ‘Is that the biggest loss in Millionaire history?’

It comes after contestant Paul Sharpe took to the H๏τ seat on a previous episode and had been sailing through the prizes when he got to a US-based question.

‘I can’t remember ever having a contestant like you,’ host Jeremy said of Paul’s courage throughout the game – which saw him take multiple risks.

He had been slowly climbing the cash ladder and at one point was sitting on £64,000 with a safety net amount of £32,000.

He went for D) Yahoo, his initial thought, but it turned out the correct answer was B) Serendipity

Read More Who Wants To Be A Millionaire viewers distracted by glaring blunder minutes into celebrity special

Paul then made it to a whopping £125,000 question – which would have seen him bag an extra £93,000.

But it was a question about US state capitals that tripped him up.

‘Which of these is not the name of a US state capital?’ Jeremy asked, before Paul was given the options of A) Lincoln, B) Richmond, C) Cambridge or D) Dover.

‘I’m pretty sure that Cambridge is the state capital of Mᴀssachusetts ,’ Paul said, after being left struck by the question. ‘I think Dover is in the Mid West somewhere, so my gut feeling says Richmond.

Having already used two of his lifelines, Paul opted to ring his dad Dennis for help.

Dennis ᴀssured his son that he thought Dover was the answer, before adding: ‘Pretty sure.’

A player on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire lost an eye-watering £93,000 after getting stumped by a brutal question

Jeremy praised Dennis’s confidence, as he said: ‘That’s the kind of person you want on the other end of the phone – clear, decisive, possibly wrong but who knows.’

Paul revealed most of his answers up until that point had been guesses as he locked in Dover.

Gutted Paul was then told the answer was Cambridge and he had lost £32,000 – but would be taking home his safety net.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? will return to ITV1 later this year and is available to stream on ITVX.