Nong from Swindon Becomes Fifth “Deal or No Deal” £250,000 Jackpot Winner

If I were The Banker and I wanted to keep hold of my money, I wouldn’t invite any more young ladies to the Dream Factory.  Nong, originally from Thailand and now a price analyst-in-training for a fuel company from Swindon, became the fifth person to bring the confetti down on Deal or No Deal.  She won the £250,000 prize in, arguably, the most dramatic way the seven year and 2,000 episode history Deal has had.  From the start of her game Nong believed the £250,000 top prize was sitting in her box numbered four.  Three minutes into the episode host Noel Edmonds said, “I think it’s going to be a memorable game,” with a laugh.  He had no idea what he was in for.

Nong thought hard over offers such as £17,000 and £34,000.  With just three boxes in play (£5, £250; £250,000), The Banker gave Nong a lifeline of a £20,000 offer to leave which she refused.  £5 and £250,000 remained and a £68,000 offer was presented.  It became clear that nothing was going to stop her.  She declined the offer and burst into tears as the confetti rained upon her when her £250,000 box was opened.  Nong has become the fifth £250,000 winner in the history of Deal or No Deal.  The other four people who have won (Laura, Alice, Suzanne,  Tegen) are also all young women.  No male has won the prize yet.

Here’s the last few minutes of her game.  We embedded it from a specific start point but if you have a spare 40-some minutes I recommend watching the full game.  It’s unbelievable.  I don’t think I’ve been that tense watching a game show in a long, long time.  It has to be seen to be believed.

If anyone watched it live like I did I think we can safely say that that full hour of Deal or No Deal was pure torture with a great finish.  For her to turn down the offers she did took an unbelievable amount of guts and I could not be happier that she won.  None of the other winners had to deal with what she did.  They all either had a good backup or an extremely low-balled offer.  None had to turn down that much money with the chance of essentially leaving with nothing.  I think you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who says that it wasn’t an insane gamble, but it’s one I’m glad Nong took.  That was easily the best win the show has had and the best episode yet.  There truly are very few things like a Deal or No Deal win and we could not be happier for Nong.  Congratulations.

In addition to the video above here is an interview with Nong right after her big game.