A COLCHESTER quizzer has made it the grand final of the television quiz Fifteen to One after winning his heat.

Gareth Watkins, 39, a Gazette employee of Derwent Road, appeared on the show on Tuesday at 3pm on Channel 4.

The show, revived last year and presented by Sandi Toksvig, involves asking contestants general knowledge questions.

They get two each to answer and then have to decide to answer more or nominate others to play.

Answer wrongly and they lose a life, three wrong answers and they are off the show, until only one person is left.

They then need to get enough correct answers to get on the leaderboard to make the final.

Following his win Gareth said: “The studio experience was a bit of a blur.

“We were introduced to friendly host Sandi Toksvig, posed for a group photograph, and the quiz began.

“I wanted to get my first answer right, so I was guaranteed to get through the first round, but I got my second question wrong in the first round so I only had two lives going into the second round.

“One inspired guess later and I set about nominating other contestants to answer.”

After seeing off his competitors he still needed to get five more questions correct to make the final, and he managed it.

He said: “Luck played a part again, but I exceeded my expectations and enjoyed every minute of the experience.”

The grand final will be broadcast later in the autumn.