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Deal Or No Deal contestant Sally Kettle recently revealed her anxiety got so bad on the British Game show that producers had to halt filming and she broke down in tears backstage before walking away with 1p.
Sally signed up to the show in 2006 in the hopes of making some cash as she was unemployed at the time and ‘broke’.
And unlike other game shows, Sally confessed to The Guardian that she thought she was in for a good shot as Deal Or No Deal is a game of chance rather than ‘intelligence’.
However, Sally revealed filming the show was ‘hectic’ as she was on set for a period of three weeks and had to film three shows a day from late morning to late evening.
She also admitted that each day was filled with highs and lows and that it was ‘draining’ to be ‘constantly switched on and smiling’ all the time.
She told the publication most days someone would walk away with ‘life-changing’ sums of money, and every night people partied hard which left her feeling ‘exhausted’ by the time it was her turn.
Discussing how her time on the show went, Sally said: ‘Things were going well when I started opening boxes: some big amounts went, and some small ones, too.’
‘At the end of every round, I’d have a chat with the banker. At one point I was offered an impressive £18,000.’
The contestant revealed that at the time she had a ‘good feeling in my gut’ and rejected the impressive offer as there were still big amounts of cash on the board to be won.
However, she claimed ‘everything started to crumble’ and eventually all of the high numbers were wiped off.
Admitting her anxiety got the better of her, Sally confessed: ‘At one point, we had to stop filming because I was having a hot flush from anxiety: the crew caked my face in more foundation while checking I was okay.’
After losing out on £15,000, Sally revealed she started to feel quite overwhelmed and was left with just two boxes, a 1p box and a 50p box.
Devastatingly she opened her last box to find she had won 1p. However, she admitted that at the time she felt a ‘sense of elation’.
But once she got back to her dressing room Sally confessed that she ‘wept like a small child’ before asking Noel Edmonds if she could take the box home with her.
18 years later, Sally still has the box and her 1p cheque of her winnings as she claimed there ‘wasn’t much point cashing it in’.
However, she now feels grateful to have appeared on the show as she claims it has made her more of a resilient person and she now works in mental health and set up her own charity during the COVID-19 lockdown.
She said: ‘Of course I was gutted, but it made me resilient, too. Now, I work in mental health and have set up a charity during lockdown. I advocate for wellbeing, and help people to build resilience in the face of stress and anxiety.’
