In a remarkable revelation that has captivated the nation, the first-ever UK winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has confirmed that her life-changing £1 million prize remains securely in her bank account, a full quarter of a century after her iconic win.
The Cautious Millionaire
Judith Keppel made television history back in November 2000 when she correctly answered the final question to scoop the show's top prize. Now, she has disclosed that the substantial sum is still largely intact, a testament to her prudent financial management. Keppel explained that her immediate priority after winning was to hire a financial manager to invest the cash wisely, a decision that has generated an impressive income for her ever since.
This cautious approach, however, did not preclude a few well-deserved treats. To celebrate her monumental victory, Judith and her daughter Rosie, who was in the audience that fateful day, embarked on a holiday to India to see tigers in the wild. In a generous gesture, she also donated a Jeep to a wildlife charity.
An Unlikely Quiz Champion
What makes Judith Keppel's story even more extraordinary is that she never considered herself a professional quizzer. She candidly admitted that her primary motivation for appearing on the show was financial necessity, stating she was simply "very poor" and noticed that the questions "weren't that hard."
Her confidence for the final, million-pound question stemmed from a recent holiday. She was asked: "Which king was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine — Henry I, Henry II, Richard I or Henry V?" Keppel recalled, "I saw her tomb, funnily enough, in France this summer," before correctly locking in Henry II as her answer. She recently told The Times, "I wasn’t 100 per cent sure but I’d been gripped at that point by some sort of insane gambling-instinct urge." Had she been wrong, she would have left with £32,000.
A Life Transformed By Financial Security
The most significant impact of the win, according to Keppel, was the eradication of financial worry. She said that being able to start enjoying herself again made a profound "difference" in her life. Despite her claims of not being a quizzer, the victory clearly ignited a passion; she went on to write a quiz book and set puzzles for a newspaper for nearly two decades, from 2003 to 2022. She also became a familiar face on the BBC quiz show Eggheads until 2023, a role that compelled her to stay up-to-date with current affairs daily.
Put into perspective, the £1 million prize she won in 2000 would be worth the equivalent of around £2 million today, according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, highlighting the immense and lasting value of her prudent financial strategy.
