A deceptively simple question sent 25 contestants home on The 1% Club

A question that appeared to be among the easiest on The 1% Club proved surprisingly costly, sending 25 contestants out of the competition in one round.

The players had been asked to solve a straightforward question about vowels, but a quarter of the studio got it wrong. One contestant, Amanda, was so frustrated with her answer that she admitted: “Because I’m an idiot.”

Could you get the 90% question right?

The episode featured 100 contestants, all hoping to survive enough rounds to reach the notoriously difficult 1% question and compete for a share of the jackpot.

The show is built around logic and common sense rather than traditional general knowledge. ITV describes the format as one where contestants do not need to rely on memorised facts, with 100 players beginning each episode and the ultimate prize reaching £100,000.

But one of the earliest questions was enough to catch out a surprisingly large number of players.

Host Lee Mack asked:

“Which of the following words contain the most vowels?”

The three choices were:

• vowel
• consonant
• letter

At first glance, the question seemed almost too straightforward. Yet when the time ran out, 25 contestants had chosen the wrong answer.

The reaction in the studio was immediate, with gasps from both the audience and the players as the scale of the elimination became clear.

The answer was “consonant”

Lee revealed that the correct answer was “consonant.”

That meant the 25 contestants who had selected one of the other options were eliminated and could no longer continue their pursuit of the final question and a share of the jackpot.

Lee also used the moment to tease the contestants, joking:

“And if you don’t know what a vowel is here’s a little tip… perhaps spend more time reading and less time on Instagram.”

The question was described as a 90% question, meaning it was expected to be answered correctly by the vast majority of people. The fact that 25 players failed it made the elimination even more surprising.

One contestant blamed herself for overthinking it

Lee then spoke to one of the contestants who had been knocked out.

He asked Amanda which answer she had chosen.

“I went for vowel,” she replied.

Lee followed up by asking what her reasoning had been.

Amanda responded:

“Because I’m an idiot.”

She then explained that she had overthought the question.

Her reaction summed up the frustration of the round. What appeared to be an obvious question had prompted contestants to second-guess themselves, with 25 ultimately paying the price for getting it wrong.

The show has plenty of questions designed to catch players out

The vowel question was not the only puzzle from the series to leave contestants struggling.

In another episode, players were faced with a five-letter word puzzle.

Lee explained:

“There is a five letter word where if you remove the first letter a bit remains.

“If you remove the second letter that bit is still there and if you take away the third letter it continues to be in place.

“What is the word?”

The answer was Habit.

Removing the first letter leaves “abit”, which contains “a bit”. Removing the next letter produces “bit”, and taking away another letter leaves “it”.

The puzzle left some contestants stumped and saw them drop out of contention.

A quiz built around logic and common sense

The 1% Club has become known for questions that can look simple on the surface but require contestants to read the wording carefully and resist overthinking.

The fourth series, which was airing on ITV1 and ITVX in 2025, began with 100 contestants competing for up to £100,000. ITV’s description of the programme emphasises logic and common sense rather than the ability to memorise facts.

The episode featuring the vowel question was published in coverage dated 5 May 2025, after the programme’s 3 May 2025 broadcast slot.

For the 25 contestants who missed the seemingly easy question, however, there was no opportunity to recover.

The 1% Club is available to watch on ITVX.