A man originally from Darlington has scooped a whopping £44,000 after winning a hit BBC gameshow.

For viewers who tuned into Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel on BBC One last Saturday (October 29) – they may have spotted a man taking part in the programme that is from Darlington.

After doing the introductions to the show, where three contestants are selected at random to take part in the show – the first person to take part in last Saturday’s The Wheel was Martin; a British Sign Language Interpreter.

Despite moving away from the area, Martin declared to host Michael McIntyre that he was originally from Darlington – before telling the show’s host about the sweet reason he’s an interpreter.

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After revealing that his husband is deaf, he told the celebrity contestants on the show that he learnt British Sign Language from scratch and then got a job in the profession.

Alongside his day-to-day job, Martin also mentioned on The Wheel that he does some performing as a drag queen in “high heels and a big red wig”.

Of course, when people go on these shows – they have already planned in their head how they will spend the money that is up for grabs.

For Martin, who revealed he would be 50 this year, and celebrating 10 years in a civil partnership with his husband – he dreamed of turning the partnership into a wedding and taking his extended family on holiday.

During the programme, which sees seven celebrities try and help the contestants in their specialist subjects win big money, Martin had to answer questions on eggs Florentine with James Martin but came unstuck when Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave tried to help.

The Northern Echo: Martin, a British Sign Language Interpreter, will now spend the money on a big holiday and an official wedding with his civil partner. Picture: BBC Martin, a British Sign Language Interpreter, will now spend the money on a big holiday and an official wedding with his civil partner. Picture: BBC (Image: BBC)

The other celebrities involved in the programme included Alison Hammond, Dianne Buswell, Rachel Parris, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Bash the Entertainer.

Despite Martin getting temporarily consigned off the show, he managed to find himself in the grand final – and selected Strictly Come Dancing’s Diane Buswell to help him answer it.

After being greeted with the question ‘which of these clubs did David Beckham NOT play for during his professional career?’ Martin answered it perfectly and selected Bayern Munich – meaning he took home the £44,000 to applause from the seven celebrities and Michael McIntyre.

Congratulations Martin! 

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