History teacher becomes first Who Wants To Be A Millionaire winner in 14 years as he scoops jackpot just 12 months after his brother won £500,000 on the show
A history teacher has become the first Who Wants to be a Millionaire winner in 14 years - just 12 months after his brother walked away with £500,000.
Donald Fear, 57, went the full distance tonight in just 20 minutes, answering almost every question without the slightest hesitation.
Mr Fear, who still had three of his lifelines left at the last hurdle, said he was able to answer the £1million question – 'In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?' – before he'd seen it properly, because he'd taught piracy one year as a special unit and was very good with dates.
The contestant, who teaches at Jeremy Corbyn's former school, whizzed through the questions in just 20 minutes - which is believed to be record time for the show.
Describing himself as 'a bit of a democratic socialist', Mr Fear said he planned give at least 70 per cent of his winnings to members of his family and spend the rest on a 'comfortable retirement'.
Speaking to The Mirror, Donald said: 'To be honest if I had a million pounds, I wouldn't have a clue how to spend it. I could buy an Aston Martin for instance, but I could get into the thing, but I could never get out of it. I'm fat!
'The only other thing you could possibly spend that sum of money on would be moving house but I am very happy with our house.
'It is in a lovely area and we have been there 27 years and we have lovely neighbours, so why move somewhere else? So I would rather keep the money and give it away to people I love.
'A motor home is the only purchase on the horizon. Things may occur to me and I can waste money for Britain but on small, trivial things.'
His older brother Davyth had also been a contestant on the programme last year - but fell at the final hurdle, walking away with £500,000 on September 1.

Donald Fear, 57, from Shropshire, scooped the £1 million prize during a sensational run on last night's show, on which he only used one of his lifelines and knew the winning answer within a 'microsecond'

Donald Fear is pictured with host Jeremy Clarkson winning the highest prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire

He said he was able to answer the £1million question – 'In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?' – before he'd seen it properly

Donald Fear spotted in public for the first time as he returns home from work, where he works as a geography teacher. Donald's brother won 500k last year on Who wants to be a millionaire and 12 months later Donald is the first person in 14 years to win the million. Hours before the show is due to air! His mother and father posed with him and his youngest daughter as they settled down to watch the episode on Friday night

Donald's brother Davyth (pictured above) walked away from an 'easy' £1million question on a previous Millionaire appearance

'The first thing I spotted was that there was a date in there… then a microsecond later I saw that it was 1718,' he said. 'Then synapses went, 'That's got to be Blackbeard'. That was the only thing it could be. I'm a dates man.'
The day after his win in the recorded show, Mr Fear handed in his notice as head of history at Haberdashers' Adams grammar school in Shropshire, which the former Labour leader attended.
He will see out the school term, then begin his retirement two years earlier than planned.
'I resigned the day after the show, the rules are you have to go at the end of the term, but I'd never investigate the possibility about whether it was possible to not go back at all,' he told the Mirror.
'How unfair to my A level students would thay have been? They are amazing people and that would have been totally letting them down.
So what I have said is I will do this term and I will make sure my year 13 students don't miss out in any way shape or form. And I'll make sure the twelves are launched. It never crossed my mind to not to come back at all.'
Following his victory, Mr Fear said he went on holiday to Whitley Bay in a caravan the next day.
'We went to an Italian restaurant and lashed out on a bottle of prosecco in the restaurant,' he said.
When asked if his pupils had a nickname for him, Mr Fear said: 'None that I know of, though I bet I might be called various things behind my back. I am unmercifully teased by my Politics students who think they know my political leanings!'
He intends to give 70 per cent of his winnings away to family members and to charity and leave himself with just enough for a 'comfortable retirement'.
'I'm not going to be a millionaire for very long because I'm giving loads of it away,' he said.
'I am deeply conscious of the incredibly distinguished list of previous winners - Eggheads, World Quiz Champions, Mastermind Champion, Brain of Britain, a barrister, a top civil servant...and me!
'I feel I'm flying the flag for the teaching profession, redbrick universities - I went to Swansea - and historians!'
The father-of-four and grandfather hesitated on only two questions, using his 50/50 lifeline for one of them.
'I was so fortunate,' he said. 'Of the 15 questions, I probably knew 13 immediately before the options appeared.' He added: 'A quiz is very easy if you know the answers and I did know the answers.'
He said he is 'happy' in the house he shares with Deb, his wife of 33 years. The couple are parents to Kat, 31, Ali, 30, Izzy, 26, and 22-year-old Chris.
The last £1million winner on the show was retired civil servant Ingram Wilcox in 2006.
When Mr Fear was speaking with host Jeremy Clarkson after reaching the £1,000 milestone, he spoke of his brother Davyth's time on the programme.
'When I applied to the show I didn't know how much he won,' Mr Fear said.

Mr Fear, who has been a teacher for more than three decades, said he had been inundated with support from his students who heard he was on the show, but hasn't let on about his big win

He described himself as 'lucky' and said he wouldn't have known a question about This Morning which came up in the previous episode
'I said my aim is to get one step further than my brother has. When I found out where he got to I thought ah, maybe not.'
Speaking of when they would play from home, he added: 'He has three years on me, I would say Dave would win 90 per cent of the time.'
During Mr Fear's 20 minutes on the programme - thought to be a possible new record - Mr Clarkson said it was like 'sitting next to the internet in a pink shirt'.
Just before answering his final question, Mr Fear said: 'I taught piracy one year at a special unit.
'I do remember Blackbeard died in 1718 off the coast of North Carolina. Blackbeard, final answer.'
Mr Clarkson then announced: 'Donald fear, you've just won a million pounds!'
The contestant, who still had three lifelines left, responded: 'That was absolutely incredible, how easy was that!'
When asked how he knew the answer, Mr Fear said: 'Well I taught it!'
Mr Clarkson said: 'You've beaten your brother - how does that feel?'
Mr Fear said: 'He'll be very pleased for me, that's the sort of person he is.'

Mr Fear said that he plans to give 70 percent of his winnings away to family members and to charity and leave himself with just enough for a 'comfortable retirement'

The contestant, who still had three lifelines left, said upon winning: 'That was absolutely incredible, how easy was that!'
Following his win, Mr Fear and his wife embarked on a caravan trip along the Northumberland coast.
They previously planned to visit Santander, Bilbao and Pamplona in Spain before heading for the Pyrenees, but were thwarted by Covid-19.
Asked how he would be spending his next holiday, Mr Fear revealed he intended to buy a motor home and visit 'wonderful Britain'.
He said: 'Much as I'd love to jump on the next plane to the States or something like that, it's just not an option.
'So for the moment it's wonderful Britain, probably Wales first of all - so a motor home in Wales is what I'm going to spend my million pounds on.'
The show's host, Jeremy Clarkson, said Mr Fear was like 'having the Encyclopaedia Britannica sitting opposite me' and added: 'It's Google, in a head'.
After winning the second Fastest Finger First round of Friday's show, Mr Fear said he was 'in the zone immediately'.
However, he admitted: 'Then my next thing to negotiate was getting on the chair because I was a bit worried I was going to fall off... because I've got quite short legs.
'I was concentrating, I was sitting as absolutely still as I can, so this thing about (me being) cool and calm is actually me trying not to make a complete idiot of myself on national television.'
The final question he answered correctly was: 'In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?'
The answer was: Blackbeard.
'I'm a dates man,' he said.
'You don't be a history teacher for 33 years without knowing a few dates, and the date 1718 and Blackbeard leapt out at me instantly.'
Mr Fear only used one of his lifelines, 50:50, to win the jackpot, leaving his two Phone A Friend options and Ask The Host unused.
The episodes were pre-recorded without a studio audience due to Covid-19, with contestants given the option of a double Phone A Friend in place of asking the audience.
Haberdashers' Adams Grammar shared their congratulations on Twitter. A message said: 'Wow what a performance from as cool as a cucumber Mr Fear! Congratulations from everyone at Adams! 'I taught it to Year 8 kids!''
Mr Fear celebrated his win with his brother, who he claimed was the more intelligent sibling.
He said: 'He is so pleased for me.
'We went to spend a night in a hotel with our wives last week and got absolutely plastered and he kept poking me saying how pleased and how overjoyed he was by it.'
Ingram Wilcox was the last winner of the top prize, going all the way in 2006.
In all, five contestants previously won the £1 million prize on the UK version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
The first was Judith Keppel in November 2000.
For her final question, then-host Chris Tarrant asked: 'Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?'
Ms Keppel correctly answered Henry II.
Mr Fear admitted he had practiced the Fastest Finger First round by 'button-pressing in the air' while watching dozens of old programmes.
He said he was 'bitterly disappointed' when he realised his mother and father would not be able to watch him in the hotseat, due to the lack of live audience.
When asked if the 15 questions passed him by quickly, he said: 'Looking back I wished I'd expanded a bit more on some of my answers, particularly the £500,000 one. I was desperate though to ensure that the other contestants got a go too.'
Mr Fear's retired pharmacist father and previous contestant brother were his chosen lifelines.
When asked what questions he would have needed their help on, he said: 'Dad is a retired pharmacist with the most amazing scientific knowledge of anyone I know. Anything body-related, diseases etc would have been referred to him.
'My brother was the back-up Phone a Friend and he was there for basically anything! My other Phone a Friend, Terry, was for the popular culture, sport and celebs questions.'
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