Deal or No Deal was a staple in British television from 2005 to 2016 when Noel Edmonds helmed the iconic Channel 4 programme.

It has recently made a comeback on ITV with Stephen Mulhern now hosting.

A programme revered by all ages, it was based on the original Netherlands format of the game show. Each episode saw a contestant choosing one of 22 boxes, each containing a cash amount. 

Now it has made it's return, old fans of the show may notice the prize money has dropped, significantly.

Despite this the show has already given us some stand out moments, but none quite as exciting as the original 11-year run.

Twists

In the Channel 4 series, various twists, either during themed special shows or permanently, are applied to the gameplay. From 2014 to 2016, "Box 23" was added to the game. This allowed contestants to purchase it with their winnings to either double their winnings, halve it, add £10,000, lose it all, or have no change.

In the same year, the "offer button" was added - meaning that if the contestant predicted their first offer within a 10% range they were able to call for an offer from the Banker at any time.

Other twists like the "Banker's Gamble" (meaning they could return dealt money to win whatever is in their box) or moving on one box at a time before an offer were factors in achieving the original top prize winners.

None have returned to the 2023 iteration thus far.

Big winners (250k) - timeline

7 January 2007 - Laura Pearce - First winner.

12 March 2009 - Alice Mundy - Originally dealt at £17,500, but accepted the Banker's Gamble to re-enter the game (winning either 1p or £250,000 in her box. She did not swap her box.).

13 May 2011 - Suzanne Mulholland - First contestant to have the "dream finish" (having both the £100,000 and the £250,000 boxes in play as the final two boxes without having dealt).  The first and only contestant to win by swapping her box. 

2 September 2011 - Tegen Roberts

5 August 2012 - Nong Skett

12 August 2013 - Paddy Roberts - First male winner and the youngest winner at age 18.

12 February 2014 - Roop Singh - First winner to be offered Box 23, and would have won £500,000 if he had purchased it.

15 October 2015 - Ann Crawford - Oldest winner. The second winner to be offered Box 23, and would have lost her winnings if she had purchased it.

23 December 2016 - Vikki Heenan - The last player to win the £250,000. It was won in the last episode of the programme before the 2023 revival. 

 

 

Olly Murs appearance

Singer Olly Murs had been desperately trying to fund medical care for his mother when he first appeared on Deal or No Deal pre-X Factor fame but may have been a little over-confident.

He turned down a massive £26,000 in the hope of raising the bar higher, only to end up with virtually nothing.

Murs told Heart Radio: "In Noel Edmonds’s words, 'it was the worst run of boxes in deal or no deal history'," he confessed sheepishly.

"I basically had the best game and turned down 26 grand."

"I became a bit of meme. It is very funny. If you have five minutes free, you should watch it on YouTube."

When Anne nearly lost everything

In 2015 a pensioner called Anne almost lost a life changing amount of money after making a careless mistake.

By the time Anne had two boxes left, it was just the 50p and £250,000 boxes left, and the banker attempted to outsmart her, by making an unusual offer.

Unsurprisingly, Anne was feeling rather nervous and when the banker explained that if Anne agreed to swap her box for the other, he’d add £10,000 to the prize money, she attempted to decline, but stumbled on her words, saying “deal no”, instead of “no deal”.

Luckily, the banker was feeling uncharacteristically sympathetic, and asked the question again, to which she replied: “No deal.”

It was then time for the big reveal, and a delighted Anne discovered that she’d been in possession of the £250,000 box all along.