I won the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? jackpot but gave it away – I’m happier without it… I don’t need flashy things
A MAN bagged the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? jackpot but gave a huge chunk of his winnings away.
Donald Fear, 61, is one of only six contestants who answered all 15 questions correctly to scoop the life-changing sum on the hit ITV quiz show.
After the confetti rained down on the dad-of-four in 2020, humble Donald celebrated with a UK caravan holiday.
The history and politics teacher from Telford, Shropshire, has since decided to take an early retirement thanks to his the windfall.
However, he doesn’t have the whole million to fall back on.
Donald gave away £700,000 to family and friends – and it was “the best thing” he could have done.
He told MailOnline: “It hasn’t really been life-changing as people would think because he decided to help the family so much which was lovely.
“I think we’ve got quite simple tastes really. We don’t go for big flashy things.
“That was the nice thing – that everyone benefited.”
Donald only used one of his lifelines – the 50/50 option – to reach the final moment.
Shortly after the win, Donald said he wanted to give away 70 per cent of his winnings because his loved ones suffered so much during lockdown.
He previously said: “There are some in my family who are struggling financially. Well, not now they’re not.
“Money isn’t everything, by any means, but you can put people in the cocoon against life’s misfortunes. And this is my chance.
“My daughter’s partner lost his job and she has gone down to part-time hours. It’s pretty clear that once furlough payments end, she will probably be out of a job as well.
“Many of the family are struggling under very high mortgage payments, my sister for instance is, she just turned 60 and she still has a mortgage which has got about eight years to run on it.”
Even more astonishingly, Donald’s brother Davyth won £500,000 on the show in 2019.
Asked for the secret behind Donald and Davyth’s success, their dad Jim said at the time: “It’s a consistent childhood of quizzes over the table.
“They’ve been answering quiz questions from the age of two or three.”