Former teacher David Edwards thanked a pupil for writing a paper which helped him win the jackpot on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Over the course of the UK programme's broadcast history, it has had just six players manage to bag the top prize of £1 million.
The most recent winner scooped the seven-figure jackpot just this year.
On April 21 2001, David Edwards became the second contestant to win the top prize - just six months after Judith Keppel's win.
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In ITV's series Who Wants to be a Millionaire : The Million Pound Question, David looked back on his life-changing journey to success, along with wife Viv and his phone a friend, son Richard.
The former physics teacher revealed he didn't think his questions "were a hard set" and managed to keep his cool while racing up the question ladder to the top prize.
Reflecting on his win, he dubbed his £64,000 question "an easy one" before faltering on one viewers found "easy" just moments later.
David's confidence wavered during the question worth £125,000. He was asked: "What is the real first name of Home Secretary Jack Straw?"
The answer options were Justin, James, John and Joseph.
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As Jack is often "shortened" from John, many people questioned why he struggled to answer the question and resorted to using all his life lines on it before ultimately selecting John as the correct answer.
David said: "I hated that question... if I had a fiver for every time someone asked me why I couldn't answer it, I'd be an even richer man."
Later, he said he doubted himself because: "Asking what Jack is short for, is too easy, therefore is the other answer more likely?"
The winner repeatedly apologised to his wife throughout his run and confessed: "There's a huge compulsion to go on... in my strange mind."
David's £1million question was: "If you planted the seeds of Quercus robur, what would grow?"
The options were trees, flowers, vegetables and grain. The correct answer was trees.
David confessed he knew the answer after marking a pupil's paper which described trees as Quercus. He said he wouldn't have known the answer were it not for that paper.
He added: "If Oliver is out there watching, thanks very much from Mr Edwards."
The show also featured a look at the memorable games of celebrities including Lee Mack and Stacey Solomon.
*Who Wants to be a Millionaire airs on ITV
