Channel 4’s flagship box-based quiz show “Deal Or No Deal” is to be axed after Rochdale maths wizard Ken Ramsbottom cracked the code that’s remained an enigma for the show’s entire 11 year run, winning the jackpot.
Mr Ramsbottom (67), a retired chemistry teacher, breezed through every single round leaving the last two boxes, one containing the jackpot, the other just a penny. Without breaking a sweat Ken dealt and opened the red box containing a cool £250,000.
In his first exclusive interview since winning Ken Ramsbottom told The Rochdale Herald the secret of his success.
“It was really obvious to me and I’ve always been amazed nobody has ever sussed it before.” said Ken, “For years every contestant has come up with ridiculous theories of how to choose the boxes and I’ve simply sat at home laughing at them. Then one day my wife said “Why don’t you go on?”, and the rest is history.”
For contractual reasons, Ken is not allowed to reveal the full system, but he did drop a few hints.
“First I had to remove box 16, as that’s my niece’s birthday and then the next box was 21, which obviously is the date we got our dog, Max. Box 17 had to go as I had that terrible car crash when I was 17. I knew the jackpot was always going to be in box 4 as I met my wife on the 4th of April, the 4th month, in 1964.”
The last episode of Deal Or No Deal is expected to be aired in the Autumn, before the fuzz-faced Edmunds starts another quiz and trousers another multi-million pound contract.
