Pat Gibson

Patrick Gibson (born 19 July 1961) is an Irish quizzer. On 24 April 2004 he became the fourth contestant to win the £1m jackpot on the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He is a multiple world champion in quizzing and one of the world's most successful quiz players. He is best known for winning several quiz shows and being a panellist on Eggheads. He was born, raised and educated in Ireland but currently lives in the United Kingdom and competes as part of the England quiz team. As of 5 December 2018, Gibson is currently the No. 1 ranked quizzer in the world.[1]

For the Australian rugby league player, see Pat Gibson (rugby league).

Pat Gibson
Pat Gibson at the European Quizzing Championship 2011 in Bruges, Belgium
Born (1961-07-19) 19 July 1961
Galway, County Galway, Ireland
Known for

Early life and education

Pat was born in Galway in 1961. He moved to Letterkenny, County Donegal in the early 1970s. He was educated at Scoil Colmcille and St Eunan's College in Letterkenny. Pat holds an engineering degree from University College Galway.[2][3] He emigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

TV quiz shows

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

On his one million pound question, he still had his 50:50 and phone a friend (he had used the Ask-the-Audience lifeline on the £64,000 question). The question was "Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?" Gibson used the 50:50 first, where B. "Belmont Stakes" and D. "Preakness Stakes" disappeared. He then used his phone-a-friend option, phoning Mark Kerr (a highly ranked British quiz player and winner of TV's "Brainiest Estate Agent" title, as well as winner of £250,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire[4])who said he was 90% sure the answer was Arlington Million, which was Pat's original instinct. Interestingly, Gibson had acted as Kerr's phone-a-friend during his appearance on the show during the same series (15), broadcast weeks before Gibson's success.

He was the only person in the United Kingdom to reach the one million pound question with two lifelines remaining. He correctly answered 'Arlington Million' to win £1 million.

Complete run to the million

These are the questions Pat faced to win £1,000,000.

Question 1

£100 (1 of 15) – no time limit
In children's stories, how many wishes are traditionally granted by a genie or fairy?
⬥ A: One ⬥ B: Two
⬥ C: Three ⬥ D: Four

Question 2

£200 (2 of 15) – no time limit
Which phrase refers to a discussion about work outside working hours?
⬥ A: Talking factory ⬥ B: Talking store
⬥ C: Talking shop ⬥ D: Talking mill

Question 3

£300 (3 of 15) – no time limit
What is the colour of the front door of Number Ten Downing Street?
⬥ A: Red ⬥ B: Blue
⬥ C: Yellow ⬥ D: Black

Question 4

£500 (4 of 15) – no time limit
Complete TV presenter David Dickinson's famous catchphrase: "Cheap as..."?
⬥ A: Cheddar ⬥ B: Chowder
⬥ C: Chips ⬥ D: Chilli

Question 5

£1,000 (5 of 15) – no time limit
What is the first word in the phonetic alphabet?
⬥ A: Apple ⬥ B: Alpha
⬥ C: Armadillo ⬥ D: Amazon

Question 6

£2,000 (6 of 15) – no time limit
Which girl's name is the title of a song on the Beatles album Rubber Soul?
⬥ A: Mandy ⬥ B: Michelle
⬥ C: Madeleine ⬥ D: Marianne

Question 7

£4,000 (7 of 15) – no time limit
In 1581, Sir Francis Drake became mayor of which city?
⬥ A: Hull ⬥ B: Glasgow
⬥ C: Plymouth ⬥ D: Bristol

Question 8

£8,000 (8 of 15) – no time limit
'The Walrus and the Carpenter' is a well-known verse in which children's novel?
⬥ A: Swallows and Amazons ⬥ B: The Hobbit
⬥ C: Through the Looking-Glass ⬥ D: Stig of the Dump

Question 9

£16,000 (9 of 15) – no time limit
In heraldry, a lion standing on one or two hind legs with one foreleg raised above the other is described as what?
⬥ A: Dormant ⬥ B: Passant
⬥ C: Couchant ⬥ D: Rampant

Question 10

£32,000 (10 of 15) – no time limit
What is the name of the world's highest active volcano?
⬥ A: Etna ⬥ B: St Helens
⬥ C: Cotopaxi ⬥ D: Krakatoa

Question 11

£64,000 (11 of 15) – no time limit
In Welsh place names, what does 'afon' mean?
⬥ A: Fort ⬥ B: Meadow
⬥ C: Pool ⬥ D: River

Question 12

£125,000 (12 of 15) – no time limit
Which king wrote a famous denunciation of smoking?
⬥ A: Richard I ⬥ B: William I
⬥ C: George I ⬥ D: James I

Question 13

£250,000 (13 of 15) – no time limit
What is the female equivalent of the Oedipus complex?
⬥ A: Electra complex ⬥ B: Athena complex
⬥ C: Diana complex ⬥ D: Pandora complex

Question 14

£500,000 (14 of 15) – no time limit
Which of these creatures are most associated with the naturalist and artist John James Audubon?
⬥ A: Beetles ⬥ B: Butterflies
⬥ C: Birds ⬥ D: Bats

Question 15

£1 million (15 of 15) – no time limit
Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?
⬥ A: Arlington Million ⬥ B: Belmont Stakes
⬥ C: Kentucky Derby ⬥ D: Preakness Stakes

Mastermind

In 2005 he was crowned champion of Mastermind: his specialist subjects included Father Ted, the books of Iain M. Banks and the films of Quentin Tarantino.

On 6 August 2010 he was crowned Mastermind Champion of Champions with a winning score of 36 points with no passes. Jesse Honey also scored 36 but had 2 passes.

Brain of Britain

On 25 December 2006 he won the highly prestigious BBC Radio 4 quiz show Brain of Britain, becoming only the fourth person after Roger Pritchard, Kevin Ashman and Chris Hughes to win both that and Mastermind.

In 2008 he finished third in BBC Radio 4's Brain of Brains, behind Egghead Chris Hughes and the eventual winner, 2008 World Quizzing Champion Mark Bytheway.

Eggheads and Are You an Egghead?

Gibson competed in both the first and second series of Are You an Egghead?, a series seeking a new panellist to join the resident team on the BBC Two / 12 Yard quiz show Eggheads. In the first series, he was beaten in the quarter-finals by friend Mark Kerr. He returned for the second series in 2009, and won the final broadcast on 23 November 2009, beating fellow Mastermind and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? winner David Edwards and thereby claiming a place on the Eggheads team.

National and international quizzing championships
Pat Gibson
Medal record
Quizzing
Representing England
British Championships (BQC)
2004 Old Trafford Singles
2006 Shrewsbury Singles
2006 Shrewsbury Pairs
2007 Staveley Singles
2009 Derby Singles
2010 Derby Singles
2011 Lichfield Pairs
2011 Lichfield Singles
2013 Hilton Singles
2014 Rothwell Singles
2015 Newark Singles
World Championships
2003 Villa Park Singles
2004 Old Trafford Singles
2005 Silverstone Singles
2006 Newport Singles
2007 Irthlingborough Singles
2010 Peterborough Singles
2011 Lichfield Singles
2012 Lichfield Singles
2013 Masham Singles
2015 Singles
2016 Singles
2017 Singles
2018 Singles
European Championships
2004 Ghent Singles
2004 Ghent National Team
2005 Tallinn Singles
2005 Tallinn Pairs
2005 Tallinn National Team
2006 Paris Singles
2006 Paris National Team
2006 Paris Club
2007 Blackpool Singles
2007 Blackpool National Team
2008 Oslo Singles
2008 Oslo National Team
2008 Oslo Club
2009 Dordrecht Singles
2009 Dordrecht Pairs
2009 Dordrecht National Team
2010 Derby Singles
2010 Derby Pairs
2010 Derby National Team
2011 Bruges Singles
2011 Bruges Pairs
2012 Tartu Pairs
2012 Tartu National Team
2013 Liverpool Pairs
2013 Liverpool National Team
2013 Liverpool Club
2013 Liverpool Masters
2014 Bucharest Pairs
2014 Bucharest National Team
2015 Rotterdam Singles
2015 Rotterdam Pairs
2015 Rotterdam National Team
2016 Athens Singles
2016 Athens Pairs
2016 Athens National Team
2016 Athens Club
2017 Zagreb Singles
2017 Zagreb Pairs
2017 Zagreb National Team

He has amassed 25 international medals (7 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze), the second highest total ever (behind Kevin Ashman with 27) and is ranked the second strongest player in the World/Europe.[5] In 2007 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship. In pairs competitions he partners Ian Bayley and they have won the British and European titles.

In 2010 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship achieving an all-time high score of 180/210, defeating both Kevin Ashman and Belgian Ronny Swiggers who tied at 169/210. In the 2010 EQC Gibson had the highest accumulated score in terms of the number of correct answers, and would have won the Singles title with a normal scoring system of 1 point for each correct answer, as he had 2 more than the eventual winner, Olav Bjortomt. Gibson retained the World Quizzing Championship title in 2011 with a score of 186/210, a 10-point margin over Kevin Ashman, and won again in 2013 with a score of 172/210.

Despite being originally from Ireland, Gibson competes for the England team.

Domestic competition

Pat plays in the Summer in the Orrell and District League for the Millstone team and in the winter in the Ormskirk league for Collywobblers.

Personal life

Gibson currently resides in Wigan.

gollark: What is the coefficient of friction of the slope anyway?
gollark: The slippery slope definitional confusion/fiddling slippery slope.
gollark: Slippery slope confusion → metaslippery slope?
gollark: Interesting.
gollark: "This is the dodecahedral fallacy" is a quicker way to explain issues with an argument without having to manually transfer all the context and fallacy stuff.

References
  1. "Current Standings – World Quiz Rankings".
  2. Donegal Democrat Ex- St. Eunan's student wins Mastermind championship Archived 18 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "IRELAND'S SMARTEST MAN? Who Wants To Be A Millionaire winner Pat Gibson". Bray People. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  4. "Estate agent is a quiz king". St Helens Reporter. St Helens Reporter. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  5. International Quizzing Association, Rankings
Preceded by
Robert Brydges		 Top prize winner on
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK)
24 April 2004		 Succeeded by
Ingram Wilcox
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