Pat Gibson

Pat Gibson
Pat Gibson at the European Quizzing Championship 2011 in Bruges, Belgium
Born	(1961-07-19) 19 July 1961 Galway, Ireland
Known for	Eggheads, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Mastermind

Patrick 'Pat' Gibson (born 19 July 1961 Galway, Ireland) is an Irish quizzer. He is a multiple world champion in quizzing and one of the world's most successful quiz players. He is best known for winning several quiz shows and being a panellist on Eggheads. He was born and educated in Ireland but has lived in the United Kingdom for many years and competes as part of the England quiz team.

Pat Gibson

Medal record
Quizzing
Representing England
British Championships (BQC)
	2004 Old Trafford	Singles
	2006 Shrewsbury	Singles
	2006 Shrewsbury	Pairs
	2007 Staveley	Singles
	2009 Derby	Singles
	2010 Derby	Singles
	2011 Lichfield	Pairs
	2011 Lichfield	Singles
World Championships
	2003 Villa Park	Singles
	2004 Old Trafford	Singles
	2005 Silverstone	Singles
	2006 Newport	Singles
	2007 Irthlingborough	Singles
	2010 Peterborough	Singles
	2011 Lichfield	Singles
	2012 Lichfield	Singles
	2013 Masham	Singles
European Championships
	2004 Ghent	Singles
	2004 Ghent	Team
	2005 Tallinn	Singles
	2005 Tallinn	Pairs
	2005 Tallinn	Team
	2006 Paris	Singles
	2006 Paris	Team
	2006 Paris	Club
	2007 Blackpool	Singles
	2007 Blackpool	Team
	2008 Oslo	Singles
	2008 Oslo	Team
	2008 Oslo	Club
	2009 Dordrecht	Singles
	2009 Dordrecht	Pairs
	2009 Dordrecht	Team
	2010 Derby	Singles
	2010 Derby	Pairs
	2010 Derby	Team
	2011 Bruges	Singles
	2011 Bruges	Pairs
	2012 Tartu	Pairs
	2012 Tartu	Team

Early life and education

Pat was born in Galway in 1961. He moved to Letterkenny in the early 1970s. He was educated at Scoil Colmcille and Saint Eunan's College in Letterkenny. Pat holds an engineering degree from University College Galway.

TV quiz shows

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

On 24 April 2004 he became the fourth contestant to win the £1m jackpot on the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. On the question below, he still had his 50:50 and phone a friend. He used the 50:50 first, where B. Belmont Stakes and D. Preakness Stakes disappeared. He then used his phone-a-friend option, phoning Mark Kerr (a highly ranked British quiz player and winner of TV's "Brainiest Estate Agent" title) who said he was 90% sure the answer was Arlington Million, which was Pat's original instinct. He was the only person in the United Kingdom to reach the one million pound question with two lifelines remaining. He used his Ask-the-Audience on the £64,000 question, and kept 50:50 and phone a friend back until the final question.

He correctly answered 'Arlington Million' to win £1 million.

Pat's complete run to the million

These are the questions Pat faced to win a million pounds.

Question 1

£100 (1 of 15) - no time limit
In children's stories, how many wishes are traditionally granted by a genie or fairy?
⬥ A: One	⬥ B: Two
⬥ C: Three	⬥ D: Four

Question 2

£200 (2 of 15) - no time limit
Which phrase refers to a discussion about work outside working hours?
⬥ A: Talking factory	⬥ B: Talking store
⬥ C: Talking shop	⬥ D: Talking mill

Question 3

£300 (3 of 15) - no time limit
What is the colour of the front door of Number Ten Downing Street?
⬥ A: Red	⬥ B: Blue
⬥ C: Yellow	⬥ D: Black

Question 4

£500 (4 of 15) - no time limit
Complete TV presenter David Dickinson's famous catchphrase: "Cheap as..."?
⬥ A: Cheddar	⬥ B: Chowder
⬥ C: Chips	⬥ D: Chilli

Question 5

£1,000 (5 of 15) - no time limit
What is the first word in the phonetic alphabet?
⬥ A: Apple	⬥ B: Alpha
⬥ C: Armadillo	⬥ D: Amazon

Question 6

£2,000 (6 of 15) - no time limit
Which girl's name is the title of a song on The Beatles album Rubber Soul?
⬥ A: Mandy	⬥ B: Michelle
⬥ C: Madeleine	⬥ D: Marianne

Question 7

£4,000 (7 of 15) - no time limit
In 1581, Sir Francis Drake became mayor of which city?
⬥ A: Hull	⬥ B: Glasgow
⬥ C: Plymouth	⬥ D: Bristol

Question 8

£8,000 (8 of 15) - no time limit
'The Walrus and the Carpenter' is a well-known verse in which children's novel?
⬥ A: Swallows and Amazons	⬥ B: The Hobbit
⬥ C: Through the Looking-Glass	⬥ D: Stig of the Dump

Question 9

£16,000 (9 of 15) - no time limit
In heraldry, a lion standing on one or two hind legs with one foreleg raised above the other is described as what?
⬥ A: Dormant	⬥ B: Passant
⬥ C: Couchant	⬥ D: Rampant

Question 10

£32,000 (10 of 15) - no time limit
What is the name of the world's highest active volcano?
⬥ A: Etna	⬥ B: St Helens
⬥ C: Cotopaxi	⬥ D: Krakatoa

Question 11

£64,000 (11 of 15) - no time limit
In Welsh place names, what does 'afon' mean?
⬥ A: Fort	⬥ B: Meadow
⬥ C: Pool	⬥ D: River

Question 12

£125,000 (12 of 15) - no time limit
Which king wrote a famous denunciation of smoking?
⬥ A: Richard I	⬥ B: William I
⬥ C: George I	⬥ D: James I

Question 13

£250,000 (13 of 15) - no time limit
What is the female equivalent of the Oedipus complex?
⬥ A: Electra complex	⬥ B: Athena complex
⬥ C: Diana complex	⬥ D: Pandora complex

Question 14

£500,000 (14 of 15) - no time limit
Which of these creatures are most associated with the naturalist and artist John James Audubon?
⬥ A: Beetles	⬥ B: Butterflies
⬥ C: Birds	⬥ D: Bats

Question 15

£1 million (15 of 15) - no time limit
Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?
⬥ A: Arlington Million	⬥ B: Belmont Stakes
⬥ C: Kentucky Derby	⬥ D: Preakness Stakes

Mastermind

In 2005 he was crowned champion of Mastermind: his specialist subjects included Father Ted, the books of Iain M. Banks and the films of Quentin Tarantino.

On 6 August 2010 he was crowned Mastermind 'Champion of Champions' with a winning score of 36 points with no passes. Jesse Honey also scored 36 but had 2 passes.

Brain of Britain

On 25 December 2006 he won the highly prestigious BBC Radio 4 quiz show Brain of Britain, becoming only the fourth person after Roger Pritchard, Kevin Ashman and Chris Hughes to win both that and Mastermind.

In 2008 he finished third in BBC Radio 4's Brain of Brains, behind Egghead Chris Hughes and the eventual winner, 2008 World Quizzing Champion Mark Bytheway.

Eggheads and Are You an Egghead?

Gibson competed in both the first and second series of Are You an Egghead?, a series seeking a new panellist to join the resident team on the BBC Two / 12 Yard quiz show Eggheads. In the first series, he was beaten in the quarter finals by Mark Kerr. He returned for the second series in 2009, and won the final broadcast on 23 November 2009, beating fellow Mastermind and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? winner David Edwards and thereby claiming a place on the Eggheads team.

National and international quizzing championships

He has amassed 24 international medals (6 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze), the second highest total ever (behind Kevin Ashman with 27) and is ranked the second strongest player in the World/Europe. In 2007 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship. In pairs competitions he partners Ian Bayley and they have won the British and European titles.

In 2010 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship achieving an all-time high score of 180/210, defeating both Kevin Ashman and Belgian Ronny Swiggers who tied at 169/210. In the 2010 EQC Gibson had the highest accumulated score in terms of the number of correct answers, and would have won the Singles title with a normal scoring system of 1 point for each correct answer, as he had 2 more than the eventual winner, Olav Bjortomt. Gibson retained the World Quizzing Championship title in 2011 with a score of 186/210, a 10 point margin over Kevin Ashman, and won again in 2013 with a score of 172/210.

Despite being originally from Ireland Pat Gibson competes for his home country in the England team.

Domestic competition

Pat plays in the Summer in the Orrell and District League for the Millstone team and in the winter in the Ormskirk league for the Old Dog.

2008 interview

An interview with Pat Gibson is available on the Norwegian Quiz Association website.

External links

• World Quizzing Championships 2010