On Friday, December 3rd, viewers of the hit ITV game show Tipping Point took to Twitter to rant about a cheap and underwhelming mystery prize given to one of the contestants.
Four contestants took to the stage, answering quiz questions for the chance to win the infamous mystery prize along with other rewards. The contestants were Suzanne, a GP receptionist from Port Talbot, Chloe, a legal advisor from Gloucestershire, Drai, a professional DJ from Wakefield, and Bill, a retired civil servant from the Wirral.
In the first round, Bill won about £250 and the mystery prize. The contestants were excited for the reveal – but their genuine smiles of anticipation quickly turned into awkward, forced ones as the prize was revealed.
A pair of cheap noise-canceling wireless headphones was all that Tipping Point could offer its knowledgeable contestants.
Bill, the winner of the sad and unfortunate prize, remained polite with a “Thank you very much.”
Even host Ben Shephard seemed underwhelmed by the headphones, given that he likely has no say over what the producers do or what prizes are offered. Shephard made an attempt to damage control, seeing how uncomfortable all the contestants were.
Shephard turned to Drai and asked him: “You’re a DJ, they sound great don’t they?” Drai muttered a reluctant “Yeah, they do” in response.
Shephard then joked, “Bill, you’ll be DJing too before long,” then tried to move on to keep the show from completely falling flat due to the dreaded headphones.
Twitter was not nearly as polite as the contestants. A slew of viewers took to the social media platform to say what Bill and Drai were too kind to.
I think this Twitter user put it best:
Oohhh wot a shit pair headphones ?? Ben hypin em says all ye need tae know #TippingPoint
Twitter user @Scally Doorsy
At least Twitter can turn this into a laughing matter. There’s one more thing that makes this even more ridiculous: apparently the same brand of headphones have been used as the mystery prize on several occasions and elicits the same response – yet the headphones keep getting used as a prize!
This also isn’t the first time that Tipping Point has caused a stir on Twitter. The following clip had many users in tears:
The question was: “Which UK political party shares its name with a collective noun for moles?”
The actual answer was “Labour”, but contestant Alice went with “liberal democrats”. Hilarity ensued as everyone took to Twitter howling with laughter.
The official Liberal Democrats Twitter account joined in on the fun as well.
At this point, perhaps Tipping Point should just rebrand itself as a comedy show.
Interested in reading more about TV and film? Check out this article on how Spider-Man: No Way Home is sending box offices and the Internet into a meltdown.
