Sorry things didn't work out for you Hollie. If it's any consolation, the other person that didn't get a final offer also swapped for 1p (although he swapped away £75k at the beginning of the game when he got a swap offer after the first round)

I didn't watch the show today, but... another 1p winner? That makes seven penny winners in four months, and three in eighteen days! IMO, the penny's lost its novelty value now that it's been won so many times... And it's always more painful when the person swaps a meaningful red for it (which is the main reason I'd never swap). Offering the swap rather than an offer was very cruel though; he could've at least offered her a bail-out of 2 or 3k...

Still, the holiday in Cuba softened the blow a bit. Let's hope tomorrow's player does a lot better...

Well the end result notwithstanding that was an exciting and entertaining game for Christmas day.

Hard as it may have been on Holly i do have a begrudging respect for the Banker for pulling that final twist. It was a very clever mind game. (interestng that she said earlier in the game she wouldn't swap. What changed your mind Hollie?) And at least she got a holiday by way of compensation, a pretty good holiday too by the sounds of it.

Apologies if anyone's already said this - i haven't read the whole thread - but does anybody else think that Hollie's seasonal sounding name was an influence in her being chosen to play today or all days?

I think once she got past 22 shows, it was fairly obvious she might be playing over Christmas.

I think it was Julie in Oct '08 who got a swap-only offer on £5 vs £75k. So Noel's wrong. Ellen who played in Dec '08 was pretty much 'forced on' at the end too, when she was offered £5k + a swap on a 1p vs £75k finish, due to the banker looking in her box after she found Scrooge. I think the banker's also threatened to make swap-only offers in the past, and he's done it at least once in proveout.

The twist at the end today with the holiday being increased from 1 week to 2 weeks was nice, and at least provided a happy end to a show which would've otherwise had a depressing end with the 1p win. It's a horrible irony that the 1p was won on Christmas Day last year too. How many people have swapped a red away, only to win 1p? It can't be that many, surely. The only won I can think of off the top of my head is Connell, who also swapped away £10k to win 1p.

The swap-only offer was a bit random and cruel, but I suppose it was inevitable that the banker would pull a trick like that, seeing as he's been so generous in the last few shows with the extra gifts etc. Talking of which, I hope Hollie enjoys her holiday, courtesy of the banker!

As well as Connell, there's also been Rio, Michelle, PJ (well, he swapped it after the first round, but I think it still counts) and Matty (again, he swapped it away after the first round).

So that makes a total of 5 people who've won 1p by swapping away a red amount, and 6 people who've swapped for 1p (Nick, the founder, swapped £100 for it). Frankly, I'm surprised that the first person to come to your head was Connell, who played over three years ago, rather than Rio or Michelle, who both played this season.

The Banker is a cunning fox. It would have been way too obvious if she had opened the £10k and the Banker must realise that some people have their suspicions. As it turned out she had already won the holiday and he was able to produce a feel good, happy ending by doubling it

It's because Connell swapped away the £10k like Hollie did. I remember thinking at the time how awful it must be to swap away £10k only to win virtually nothing. Little did I know that there were far more disastrous swaps over the horizon!

A great game, with a great contestant that unfortunately had a bad result.

Enjoy the holiday Hollie! You were great. Such a shame you didn't win more.

That makes 10 1p winners this year doesn't it? Definite record..

Found the game I was thinking of yesterday. Louise during Santa or Scrooge week in 2007 got an 11p offer on a 10p/£5k finish although that was when the banker knew what was in her box due to the scrooge twist and picking 2 of the wing boxes to look at, one of which Louise had kept to the end.

At least, the mystery of Noel's "this has only happened once before" quote from the trailer has been revealed.

[/retirement]
Bold predicition: 83 players will have joined the 1p(athetic) club by the time the show goes off for its mid-summer break. I have done the math, and it is both mathematically and statistically possible.
What a complete waste of a holiday special. All that anticipation for a total ZONK.
DoND, are you finished wasting everyone's time yet? Evidently not.
And now, back to my retirement.
[retirement]

Bad result, but I thought given how Hollie was on the wings, I thought she'd be in floods if she won a blue and she took it quite well. Had a horrible feeling she was pushing her luck a bit too far by no-dealing at 4-box when I thought the offer was very good AND the momentum was against her.

I absolutely despise the swap-only offer, but in this case I don't think it fundamentally changed the game - based on the gambles she made earlier, on £10k/1p she'd have most likely no-dealt the £2k - £3k she'd have been offered there and taken the swap anyway. Unless the banker was unusally generous which he isn't with 1p there.

At least she got 2 weeks in Cuba, so I guess she's won more than all the other 1p winners except PJ!