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Millions of television viewers were on the edge of their seats on Monday night, as the Wolverhampton Express and Star’s racing editor, John Sexton, kept his nerve to win £250,000 on ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Here John talks us through his emotions as he sat opposite Chris Tarrant – and found himself within sight of the ultimate prize.

In the Oscar-winning film Chariots Of Fire, as Harold Abrahams is preparingfor the 100 metres final at the 1924 Olympics he says: “All my life I havebeen afraid of losing, but now I am almost too frightened to win”.

After appearing on ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’, I now knowwhat he meant.

That was what happened to me when I eventually chickened out ofanswering the £500,000 question, even though I was more than 80 per centcertain I was right.

I just couldn’t have faced the disappointment of losingwhat I had so painstakingly won had the odds-on favourite gone down.

My first target had been to make £1,000, a haven that means you havesomething to take home and have not made a complete idiot of yourself. Onlythree people had gone home with nothing – one of them at the previous day’srecording – and I didn’t want to be the fourth.

Sitting at home, every question looks easy, but when you are in the chair thepressures mount up. The money is real, you don’t want to look a fool and youalso know this is your only chance. Anyone who makes the hot seat can neverplay the game again.

I reached £1,000 with no problems, but the route to £32,000 proved fartrickier. It is over 40 years since I recited nursery rhymes, so rememberingwho took off the kettle that Polly put on proved an unexpected problem, eventhough, as Chris Tarrant said, every five-year-old watching knew.

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