A contestant from Wales just won £50,000 on ITV quiz show Beat the Chasers.
Michael Freebury, from Cowbridge, racked up £2000 in the Cashbuilder round, before choosing to take on four chasers: Shaun Wallace, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan and Anne Hegerty. With 41 seconds on the Chasers' clock, and 60 on Michaels, the Welshman romped home with eight seconds to spare, picking up an enviable £50,000 prize.
During the show, Michael spoke about what he'd do with the winnings, suggesting he'd like to fix up his house, as well as buy an engagement ring for his partner Nicola.
He said: "My partner's been sending me pictures of gems that fit in a ring, so an engagement could be on the cards as well."
Speaking after the episode was recorded, Michael confirmed he did just that.
Talking about what he was going to do with the winnings, Michael said: "My plans are still the same. I’m delighted to confirm that I proposed to my partner soon afterwards and she said yes. A wedding will now take place as soon as it’s safe to do so. We’ve also started doing the final bits of work that we wanted to do with our house."
Discussing the show, Michael said: "The Chase has been a firm family favourite for many years and we compete against each other to see who could answer the most questions.
"When we watched the first series of Beat The Chasers, we thought this was an even better format, so my partner and children dared me to apply and the rest, as they say, is history."
Michael added he'd have liked to go up against the Beast (Mark Labbett) but was happy with his choices in the end.
"The one Chaser I would have liked to have faced was the Beast and he was the final chaser to be lit up," he said.
"I had received some brilliant offers up until then and even though his offer was double the previous offer and just one second more, I still felt that going up against 4 Chasers was the best option."
He added: "It hasn’t sunk in at all yet and it probably won't for some time.
"Being able to tell people I beat the Chasers is definitely a claim to fame that I am looking forward to telling people about when pubs open again."
