Tipping Point's worst blunders – answer gaffes, losing £20k and controversial tactic

Tipping Point is one of Britain’s most beloved game shows, but over the years players have suffered from some nightmare gaffes.

Show host Ben Shephard has presented the ITV daytime since 2012, and during his time he’s witnessed his players fall victim to some absolutely savage blunders in the studio.

The game pits four contestants against each other as they answer questions of general knowledge, with correct answers winning them counters to use on the Tipping Point machine which they can then use to bag a cash prize to take home.

It doesn’t always go their way, of course, and many end up embarrassing themselves when the pressure is on – leaving viewers in fits of giggles.

Unfortunately for Ben’s poor players, their worst mistakes have been caught on camera – so Daily Star has decided to look back at the show’s biggest blunders.

Homer Simpson gaffe

One of the most epic moments in Tipping Point history came in October this year – when one contestant confused the Greek poet Homer with the beloved dad on The Simpsons – Homer Simpson.

Ben was forced to hold back his laughter when the player mistook the historic poet for the doughnut-loving dad.

When Linzi was asked: “In his epic poems, Homer often refers to nectar as the drink of the gods and which other substance as their food?”

She quickly passed the question over to her competitor – Dom.

However, Dom clearly didn’t have a clue either, and he answered: “Doughnuts”, which left fans in stitches.

Homer on The Simpsons, of course, is more known for his love of Duff beer than nectar.

Contestant loses £20k

In Series 9, a player called Gareth lost out on a whopping £20k in the Final Round – where players get a chance to nab the lucrative Jackpot Counter.

Gareth had managed to knock the Jackpot Counter, as well as the double-money counter, to the edge of the shelf.

Ben had said that he could be about to make “Tipping Point history”, and the double-points counter was so close that it was hanging off of the bottom shelf.

At the end of a nail-biting round, he decided to walk away with the money he’d already racked up in the game – £2700 – rather than risk it for a chance at a huge win.

Gareth was gutted to find out that if he’d have carried on playing and dropped the remaining counters into the machine, he would have won £20k, as they showed a video scenario of what would have happened.

Ben was in visible shock and he gasped :”Oh my goodness me”, and Gareth took it well but confessed that he felt “deflated” at the loss.

Ben loses it at player’s ‘dog’ answer

Ben couldn’t stifle his giggles last year when a player came out with a hilarious answer to a question on insects.

The handsome host is usually able to keep composed when his players reveal answers, but even he broke down laughing at Sharon’s gaffe.

During her quick fire round, Ben asked: “Papillon is the French for which flying insect?”

After a long pause, she finally replied: “Dog?”

Ben cried out: “Butterfly”, and Sharon burst out laughing at her mistake.

The host told her: “We have had some good answers on Tipping Point, Sharon, but I think that’s gone into my top three!”

Ben steps in over player’s controversial tactic

One of the most controversial tactics on the game show is when player’s pass their questions onto their opponents.

The tactic is used in a bid to avoid incorrect answers during tough questions, and sometimes it works, but many fans hate the strategy and often complain about it on Twitter.

Holly got off to a good start by answering two questions right early on in the competition, but her luck soon ran out during the game show – and made the same mistake twice.

Holly decided to pass her go over to her fellow contestants – Roger and Eileen.

It immediately blew up in her face though, because it meant that Roger and Eileen bagged a ton of counters – meaning Holly she lost out on vital counters to keep her in the game.

Roger managed to secure plenty of counters – whilst Eileen was able to pick up eight.

Ben was gutted for Holly, telling her: “Holly! Eight counters there Eileen!”

Holly got knocked out in the first round after racking up just £100.

Fans baffled at rollercoaster question

Fans were gobsmacked last year when one contestants failed to answer a simple question on theme park rides.

Aly and Brooke were in the quick-fire round, which forced them to answer questions in a 30-second round-robin.

Ben asked: “What word follows roller in the common name of theme park ride?”, referring to a rollercoaster.

Aly wanted Ben to clarify the question before answering: “blade”, when the correct answer was “coaster”.

It got worse for the pair when Brooke, his teammate, couldn’t name the 2002 Jennifer Lopez film Maid in Manhattan, and she opted for “Chelsea”, referring to the British reality show.

Ben laughs at player’s ‘fish’ answer

In January, Ben lost all composure when Joe answered a string of easy questions incorrectly.

Joe had got off to a confident start in the show, but things went badly wrong in the quick-fire round.

Ben asked him: “The goldfinch belongs to which winged class of animal?”

Fans wouldn’t need to be animal experts to believe that the mention of wings would refer to “birds”.

However, Joe did no such thing, and he opted for: “Fish.”

Joe quickly realised how badly he’d got it wrong, and Ben cracked up in the studio.

Later on, Ben asked Joe: “The three US states that begin and end in the letter ‘A’ are Alabama, Alaska and which other?

Joe stumbled again, and he seemed to forget that the question wanted states with the letter “A”.

He answered: “Florida”.

Ben knew it was an iconic episode as he said goodbye to Joe, who ended up finishing second.

Ben told him: “Thank you so much, Joe. We will remember you for a very long time.

Tipping Point airs weekdays on ITV at 4pm

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk