When did Lisa get 'carried away'? She didn't take any huge risks; she was just very unlucky.

Shirley, the posters here are generally very supportive of all of the players of the game. Perhaps the Digital Spy forum might be more up your street?

Unfortunately, the days of going on a game-show and being happy with going away with £5K are long behind us. Ten or fifteen years ago, that might have been true, but peoples expectations of what they can win these days is a lot more.

Yes, DonD plays on human greed to some extent, and this is where the banker is very clever when he pitches his offers, just low enough for the player to think that while most or all of the "power five" are on the board that it is worthwhile going on to try and get more.

A lot of people on this forum indicate that they would be happy with £10K, or certainly £20K, and if they were to be offered this amount early on in their game they would take it and get the hell out of the studio. Somehow though, I don't even think they, when up there, in front of an audience and the cameras, would be too keen about dealing too early in the game at the first or second offers as they want to be seen to provide some sort of entertainment value.

There have been some players who have had good games, turned down some pretty high offers in excess of £20K and walked away with much less, and yes, it is hard to feel sympathy with people like this. There are others though whose games never really got off the ground - offers that never got into five figures - desperately unlucky games, where you do have to feel sorry for the players a bit. To turn down a high figure while chasing the big money is one thing, but to never have been offered the big money in the first place is another thing entirely.

Lisa's highest offer was £14K during round three, but the banker knows that very few contestants will deal this early in the game, even though for quite a few, this will prove to be the optimum time to take the moneyand run. The advice from all around will always be to no deal ("there is one more deal in it for you.."), and it would take a very brave person indeed to ignore all around them and take the money when it is offered. Of course, if people always dealt early then no-one would ever win the £250K!

If Lisa had any kind of target at all, and the banker met that target, then yes, she should have stopped and taken the money. That would have been the sensible thing to do. Somehow though I don't think Noel calls it the "Crazy Chair" for nothing - once you sit in it, all sensible thoughts seem to go out of the window! Then of course comes the big crash, as your dreams come crashing down around you - paying off the mortgage, credit cards and becoming debt free suddenly becomes just enough for a new bathroom and kitchen but sixty seconds later wouldn't get you a weekend trip for two to Paris, and then hardly enough for a bag of fish and chips. Until you are up there and you start putting a price on each of the values of the boxes, you can't hope to understand what each of them means to the various players, and you can hardly blame them for showing a bit of emotion.

It is easy money to some extent yes, as there is no skill involved besides being able to count up to 22 and pick 20 of them randomly over 45 minutes. The format and human nature is such that there will always be big losers to go with those big winners. Laughing at those big losers is not really funny or clever. It could be you up there one of these days, and how would you like to read other people pulling you and your game to pieces. It is not on. Kestral works hard on here to keep the forums friendly, hence why so many former contestants are registered on here and are prepared to share their thoughts and experiences with us all. The odds are high that Lisa will get to read what has been written about her one of these days, so the word of warning here is - be careful what you write. Everyone is entitled to their opinions yes, but let's not get personal.

That has to be one of the best posts ever Mental Mickey and while I'm here one of the best signatures ever!

I also agree with Mister Al, maybe Digital Spy is a more suitable forum for Shirley Nott

I agree with you mental Mickey as I personally know about 50 of the contestants, there is no need to be evil about someone elses misfortune, also with Noel saying that the 250 has not been here for however many games it is now, it encourages people to gamble. sorry Shirley you are out of order

Shirley you cannot be serious

Metal Mickey's post was superb and makes SNOT (as you have deservedly been dubbed) look rather pathetic

I completely agree with you, Mental Mickey.

Wrong. Wrong side of 50, a lifetime in the entertainment industry.



Ooohhh... a lecture. Pray continue!



Hmmm... here's the thing. It's a game show. If you're plumbed up to the eyeballs with debt, are desperate for a holday in the Seychelles, want to buy a new Lamborghini - whatever you might like to spend the winnings on - you've got to acknowledge that you might just win a penny. And you've got to be prepared for that.

If each contestant had to stump up, say £5,000 in order to play, then my view might be different, but they don't - they're feted right royally in the hotel, they spend an average of a fortnight there enjoying Endemol's hospitality, and then they cry when their game of chance falls apart?

There's an old saying - if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

I've seen people cry. When their husband/wife dies in their arms, when their child is diagnosed with terminal cancer, when they return to their house to find it gutted - and I've cried with them. But I'm sorry, I can't cry with someone whose desire for more money outweighs their common sense or ability to cope with a losing scenario.



As it should be. And given that my accent is not very different from yours...




As I say, it's a game show - it's not really there for "desperate" folks. It's meant to be entertainment, and it should entertain them as well as us.

I can well understand someone becoming very emotional when they win £150k or something - happiness causes tears too. But crying because you're no worse off than you were before you played? Please...

It's what I'd expect of an American, not a Brit.

That, I'm afraid, is the reality of taking a place in the public eye. With the bouquets come the brickbats. It may not be in the same league as, say X Factor or BB, but by becoming a contestant on DOND, you're putting yourself in the public eye for an average of 22 shows. During that time, you're going to do things that some people love and others will hate. You will be discussed. Your dress sense, demeanour, everything about you will be commented on.

To pretend otherwise is simply naiive.

I accept people are all entitled to their opinions ok but to start dissing someone in a thread started by a fellow contestant off Lisa's is downright rude and disrespectful, and no i am not naive there have been people on the show I have not liked (not many but a few) but I would never say anything on a forum such as this one where contestants come and visit much more suited to digital spy and channel 4 site.

Can somebody please lock this thread? It's turning into an argument.

i agree 22

Before this gets locked can I just say that I agree entirely with Mental Mickey's comments.

Well said M M!

I do agree with most of what you say here. To some extent, yes, contestants must accept some degree of publicity, which is one reason why I have no love lost at all for "Player 14", who has asked that all details of his game be withheld from various stats sites.

To say that Lisa's dance made you cringe with embarressment is one thing for example, but to actively say you are happy when a contestant crashes-and-burns is another thing entirely.

There have been a fair share of contestants I don't like and have irritated me in their own little ways and have lost my respect. I don't like everyone and neither do I expect anyone else to do so. If we all liked and disliked the same things it would be a very boring world indeed!!

If I can't think of anything nice to say about a contestant then I happen to believe it's best not to say anything at all. I can't think of a single instance when I have sat there at the TV screen and said "I hope it's a red you *******" or wished someone to join the 1p club. I still like people to win at least something meaningful, even if I don't really like them.

I don't know any of these former contestants who have played the game. But I certainly don't begrudge them their fourty-five minutes of fame and if they can screw a five figure sum out of Endomol in the process for doing practically nothing then all power to them - I wish them all the best, and if it all goes horribly wrong for them I can't help being a little upset. Most people on these forums are fans of the show and like to see winners. If anyone likes to see losers then clearly they are on the wrong forum and have no business calling themselves a fan of the show.

But I agree with 22 and Suezan above. This thread is getting too argumentative. Where is Kes when you need him?

Why were you disappointed that she cried and how can a woman take it like a man

Ah yes the famous words of Thumper's mother in Bambi..."If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"

Was that where it was from?

Not a film I have seen. It is definately a worthwhile mantra for the forums though. It should be in the rules:

(1) If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
(2) Kestral is always right.
(3) If Kestral is wrong then rule two applies.
(4) Obey all the rules.

It's very important too to say that quite often the reason a contestant will no deal is not because they are greedy as was suggested by one or two people in this thread. It is because they are there to make an entertaining show for the viewers, to enjoy the fun of playing the game, and importantly, to win money not necessarily just for their own advantage, but to benefit other people, family members, friends, charities etc. Is that greed?

I believe that part of the appeal of DOND is that we can all relate to each other as human beings, empathising and at times sympathising with each other, sharing in the joy of victory, and similarly sharing in the sorrow and pain of misfortune. If we are there to mock contestants and hope they do badly, we miss out on what it is to be compassionate, and truly be human.

Also Kestral's built something up here that is unique, a forum where contestants can come on here and hardly ever be subjected to the kind of personal abuse they would get elsewhere, about their appearance, personality, the way they played the game etc - I know there are occasional exceptions but they are rare.

And he's managed that without being heavy handed and constantly banning people, so I think the long-standing regulars have to take a lot of credit as well. If that culture was to disappear then not only would we lose the contestants but also most of the regular posters as well.

That's an excellent point Power 5

Like it or not cynics of cyberspace but for most of the time this is a supportive forum where for the vast majority of folk the Banker is the enemy.

Speaking as a fan of the show the contestants that we have grown to know as viewers of the best show on TV are people we come to care about and for a wee while regard as our friends.

Now I know that some folks like to see contestants suffer but as I have said many times before this is a show where ordinary folk are placed in an extra ordinary situation and frankly it seems pretty pathetic in my opionion to feel in anyway disappointed if a contestant cries.

I know that I vowed when I went down to Bristol that the only tears anyone would see from me would be tears of laughter and I am glad that is all they got.

What I did not expect and what you cannot see until you are selected to play is the amount of tears that are shed by folking trying to deal with being on the show and trying to do something for their families.

Tears not just on the set but in the holding area, on the bus,in the hotel bar and especially on the phone afterwards as contestants who had not done well struggled to put it behind them and explain what had happend to their loved ones when they got home.

1p Nick who was the first to take the trip to hell and back does an amazing job counselling contestants. Believe me - I know!