There are plenty of things that feel unmistakably British: endless cups of tea, fish and chips, complaining about the weather, and shouting answers at the television during a quiz show.

The tradition usually comes with a second part, too. When contestants get an answer wrong, viewers are quick to celebrate their own superior knowledge. And if they confidently shout the wrong answer themselves, there is always the option of pretending they never said it.

That familiar Saturday night ritual took an unexpected turn during the latest episode of ITV’s The 1% Club, hosted by Lee Mack.

The 9 March episode left viewers stunned after contestants set a new record on the show, with an extraordinary 39 people using their one and only pass on a single question.

39 contestants used their pass

The 1% Club puts 100 members of the public through a series of questions designed to test common sense, intelligence and logic.

As contestants progress through the game, they face increasingly difficult questions. Anyone who eventually answers a question correctly that only one percent of the nation could answer has the chance to win a share of up to £100,000.

But one question in this week’s episode proved particularly difficult, despite the game being only halfway through.

The question asked:

“Which of these is the odd one out in this CONUNDRUM?”

The four possible answers were:

A. cord
B. norm
C. noun
D. Moon

A remarkable 39 contestants decided to use their pass on the question. Each player can only use a pass once, making the decision particularly significant.

Four contestants chose to answer but got it wrong.

Lee Mack was genuinely shocked

Mack revealed that the correct answer was D. Moon because the word could not be formed using the letters in “conundrum”.

The number of passes used left the host stunned.

He explained that the show had just witnessed a new record, saying that four contestants had been eliminated, but 39 people had chosen to use their pass.

Mack added that he believed it was the first time in the show’s history that more contestants had used a pass than had actually known the answer.

“I’m genuinely in shock,” he said.

Viewers were equally surprised and took to X to react to the extraordinary moment.

39 used their pass on this one??? #The1PercentClub Christ!! #moon pic.twitter.com/SgN400DGXB

— Gillian Hudson 💙💙 (@JillHudson21) March 9, 2024

One wrote: “Omg the amount of people that used a pass.”

Another posted: “39 used their pass on this one??? #The1PercentClub Christ!!”

The official The 1% Club account also joined in with the jokes, writing: “Haven’t seen that many passes since the last @ManCity match.”

Others summed up their reaction with the “I’m done” GIF, posting: “39 people after that last question…”

So, the question remains: would you have used your pass?