Sir Alex Ferguson beat his previous mark on Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire? bagging the Manchester United Foundation £50,000 - but it
could have been more had his knowledge of bricks been up to scratch.
The former Manchester United manager appeared on the special live show, the last ever of the long-running series, with Eamonn Holmes, an avid Manchester United fan.
Holmes and Ferguson had previously appeared on the show together in 2004, where they won £32,000. And Fergie, who has a long habit of winning, was determined to beat his previous mark.
Winners: Sir Alex Ferguson and Eamonn Holmes won £50,000 for the Manchester United Foundation
Gamble: Answering this question correctly would have taken them to £150,000, but their wrong answer dropped them back to £50,000
Disappointment: The pair previously appeared on the show in 2004 and won £32,000
The Scot admitted to Chris Tarrant before the questions started that he was still sore at only winning £32,000 last time.
'I was devastated,' he told Tarrant. 'We looked great at £64k, three lifelines, but we couldn't do it.'
He also admitted to being a quiz fan, with the Ferguson family regularly taking part in family quizzes at Christmas.
'It's very competitive. We get one of the grandson's to do the questions.'
Ferguson and Holmes had a strong start rattling through the first few questions to get to £10,000 in no time. However, they did have to burn a lifeline on the fourth question, as they didn't know what the recent increase in minimum wage for over 21s had changed to.
They asked the audience and went with the 83 per cent majority, who answered correctly, saying £6.31.
The pair ran into a bit more trouble thereafter, however. They confidently answered that Delia Smith had sold the record amount of cookbooks in the UK, but on their next two questions they used a further two lifelines.
The £20,000 question asked: 'Margaret Thatcher regularly had a 'Carmen' listed in her daily diary, indicating an appointment with her what?'
They had to ring Jon Lawrence, a journalist at the Daily Telegraph, who said the answer was her hairdresser, although he 'wasn't sure'.
That was correct and so was the answer to the next question, which asked what was the most common surname in the UK since records began.
Out of Jones, Taylor, Smith and Brown, they beleived it was either Jones or Smith but decided to use their 50/50.
Easy: The first question raised a smile from Fergie, and both answered it quickly
Slightly tougher: Ferguson and Holmes didn't know that the minimum wage had been increased to (B) £6.31
Delia fan: The former Manchester United boss knew that Delia Smith had sold a record number of books
Phone a friend: The duo had to ask a journalist to give them the answer to the question about Margaret Thatcher
50/50: Answering this question correctly meant they were guaranteed to win at least £50,000
No answer: They had to use their switch lifeline to get out of answering this toughie
This didn't help as it brought up the two names they had conferred over.
However, they eventually went with Smith, which took them to the total of £50,000, an amount that became their new minimum and added a lifeline, the switch, which allows for a change in question.
They had to use it on their next go, not knowing that an Octopus has three hearts.
The next question seemed equally tough, asking about December tax laws in Europe.
Delight: Their guess of Norway took Ferguson and Holmes up to £75,000 - Chris Tarrant was also delighted
Walking away: Sir Alex and Eamonn Holmes leave the stage after bagging £50,000
Ferguson and Holmes took a guess that Norway reduce their tax in
December so their citizens have more to spend at Christmas, which was
right, taking their total to £75,000.
But they came unstuck on the next one with their big gamble.
The question was worth £150,000 if answered correctly but would put them down to £50,000 if answered wrong.
Despite a long conference they believed a newt, rather than a frog, was on one side of a common brick.
Despite their gamble the pair were pleased with their earnings, knowing that they had beaten their total from 2004 and raised a huge amount for charity.
Backstage: Fergie and Holmes prepare for the show backstage at ITV studios
Larks: Carol Voderman and Caroline Quentin also appeared on the special live show
Return: Sir Alex Ferguson last appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2004
Partners: Ferguson was again teamed up with Holmes all those years ago
Good cause: Fergie and Holmes eventually went on to win £32,000 in 2004
The former Manchester United manager appeared on the special live show, the last ever of the long-running series, with Eamonn Holmes, an avid Manchester United fan.
Holmes and Ferguson had previously appeared on the show together in 2004, where they won £32,000. And Fergie, who has a long habit of winning, was determined to beat his previous mark.
Winners: Sir Alex Ferguson and Eamonn Holmes won £50,000 for the Manchester United Foundation
Gamble: Answering this question correctly would have taken them to £150,000, but their wrong answer dropped them back to £50,000
Disappointment: The pair previously appeared on the show in 2004 and won £32,000
The Scot admitted to Chris Tarrant before the questions started that he was still sore at only winning £32,000 last time.'I was devastated,' he told Tarrant. 'We looked great at £64k, three lifelines, but we couldn't do it.'
He also admitted to being a quiz fan, with the Ferguson family regularly taking part in family quizzes at Christmas.
'It's very competitive. We get one of the grandson's to do the questions.'
Ferguson and Holmes had a strong start rattling through the first few questions to get to £10,000 in no time. However, they did have to burn a lifeline on the fourth question, as they didn't know what the recent increase in minimum wage for over 21s had changed to.
They asked the audience and went with the 83 per cent majority, who answered correctly, saying £6.31.
The pair ran into a bit more trouble thereafter, however. They confidently answered that Delia Smith had sold the record amount of cookbooks in the UK, but on their next two questions they used a further two lifelines.
The £20,000 question asked: 'Margaret Thatcher regularly had a 'Carmen' listed in her daily diary, indicating an appointment with her what?'
They had to ring Jon Lawrence, a journalist at the Daily Telegraph, who said the answer was her hairdresser, although he 'wasn't sure'.
That was correct and so was the answer to the next question, which asked what was the most common surname in the UK since records began.
Out of Jones, Taylor, Smith and Brown, they beleived it was either Jones or Smith but decided to use their 50/50.
Easy: The first question raised a smile from Fergie, and both answered it quickly
Slightly tougher: Ferguson and Holmes didn't know that the minimum wage had been increased to (B) £6.31
Delia fan: The former Manchester United boss knew that Delia Smith had sold a record number of books
Phone a friend: The duo had to ask a journalist to give them the answer to the question about Margaret Thatcher
50/50: Answering this question correctly meant they were guaranteed to win at least £50,000
No answer: They had to use their switch lifeline to get out of answering this toughie
However, they eventually went with Smith, which took them to the total of £50,000, an amount that became their new minimum and added a lifeline, the switch, which allows for a change in question.
They had to use it on their next go, not knowing that an Octopus has three hearts.
The next question seemed equally tough, asking about December tax laws in Europe.
Delight: Their guess of Norway took Ferguson and Holmes up to £75,000 - Chris Tarrant was also delighted
Walking away: Sir Alex and Eamonn Holmes leave the stage after bagging £50,000
But they came unstuck on the next one with their big gamble.
The question was worth £150,000 if answered correctly but would put them down to £50,000 if answered wrong.
Despite a long conference they believed a newt, rather than a frog, was on one side of a common brick.
Despite their gamble the pair were pleased with their earnings, knowing that they had beaten their total from 2004 and raised a huge amount for charity.
Backstage: Fergie and Holmes prepare for the show backstage at ITV studios
Larks: Carol Voderman and Caroline Quentin also appeared on the special live show
Return: Sir Alex Ferguson last appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2004
Partners: Ferguson was again teamed up with Holmes all those years ago
Good cause: Fergie and Holmes eventually went on to win £32,000 in 2004
