The 1% Club: 17 contestants eliminated by deceptively simple scissors picture

A picture question that looked simple enough to solve at a glance proved surprisingly costly on The 1% Club, with 17 contestants giving the wrong answer.

The challenge appeared during the latest episode of the ITV quiz show hosted by Lee Mack, which puts contestants’ logic and common sense to the test rather than relying on traditional general knowledge.

The show begins with 100 contestants, all hoping to survive enough rounds to reach the final 1% question and potentially win a share of the prize money. ITV says the top prize can reach £100,000.

Could you count all the scissors?

The question came in the 70% round, where contestants were shown a photograph containing a jumble of scissors.

Lee Mack asked:

How many scissors are there in the image below?

At first glance, the picture appeared straightforward. The scissors were scattered across the floor in different positions, with some pairs open, some closed and several overlapping one another.

But the cluttered arrangement made the seemingly easy counting task much harder than expected.

When time ran out, 17 players had failed to find the correct answer and were eliminated from the game.

The answer was six pairs of scissors.

The moment was a good example of what makes The 1% Club different from conventional quiz shows. Contestants are not expected to memorise facts or rely on specialist knowledge. Instead, the format is built around observation, logic and the way people process apparently simple problems. ITV describes the programme as a quiz in which how your brain works matters more than what you have learned.

The show has become a regular part of ITV’s Saturday-night entertainment schedule, with Lee Mack returning as host for the new series that began in January 2026.

The 1% Club expands with a children’s special

The scissors question came as ITV was also preparing to expand the The 1% Club format with a special edition featuring children.

The children’s version was filmed with 100 young contestants taking the place of the adults and attempting to progress through the same style of logic and common-sense challenges.

A first-look clip showed Lee Mack interacting with the young players, who introduced him to the viral 6, 7 trend.

After Lee asked about the children’s seat numbers, the contestants began moving their hands up and down while repeating, 6, 7.

The phrase had become closely associated with Gen Alpha after going viral, despite having no fixed meaning or context.

It was subsequently named Dictionary.com’s word of the year, with the site describing it as a burst of energy that can spread and connect people before anyone has agreed on exactly what it means.

ITV’s wider plans underline just how established the programme has become. When the new series launched in January 2026, the broadcaster described The 1% Club as a global hit and said the show had been streamed more than 40 million times since its launch three years earlier. It has also won awards including the National Television Award for Best Quiz Show, a Broadcast Award for Best Entertainment and a Rose d’Or for Best Entertainment Show.

For viewers at home, though, the appeal remains much simpler: watch the question, trust your instincts and hope you have spotted something the contestants have missed.

And in this case, the answer really was hiding in plain sight.

The 1% Club airs on ITV1 and ITVX.