Tipping Point boss shares huge secret for how to get onto ITV quiz show

ITV are always looking for new contestants to join some of their fan-favourite quiz shows including the likes of The Chase and Tipping Point. However, many of the people applying don't always know how to sell themselves or make themselves stand out to show bosses and miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Now, Mark Stephen Hughes, who has worked as a quiz question writer and freelance producer on the likes of Tipping Point, The Finish Line and Alan Carr's Picture Slam, has spilled the secret knack for how to land a place on one of the shows. Speaking to Express.co.uk on behalf of casino.co.uk, he told us: "So, believe it or not, there are knacks to getting picked. The first thing that happens in that instance is the big hurdle of fear of being on television, but that's scratched because the tapes we receive are people applying to be on it. You have to want to be on television, we're not pulling these people off the street.

"Secondly, you need to be interesting. Don't just say, you'd spend the money going on holiday. If you say something like, I want to build my cat a three-storey house or just want to do something really mad with it, like building a jet ski. We're always looking for people that are from different backgrounds and from different walks of life.

"You don't have to be extremely extroverted, just interesting and have some general knowledge; as we will test you as part of the screening process."

He added that people also don't need to be worried about a bad edit on any of the quiz shows as they "play out pretty much in real time as we film them." The show boss declared: "When you watch the shows, that's how they're presented."

However, he also let us in on some little show secrets, adding: "I would say the one thing that people aren't as aware of as much is, when it comes to tie breakers, we'll have a set of tie breaker questions all ready to go, in the very unlikely situation that two players end up on the same amount of points.

"It's happened on a couple of other shows as well. We've had situations where there's gameplay that we just didn't contemplate.

"It's a common thing with new shows; I remember on 'The Finish Line', because it was such a new show and we were constantly trying to work out the protocols and procedures, like what happens if they get all the same amount of points, who goes forward?

"So it's little things like that behind the scenes. We have to prepare for every eventuality and have procedures and protocols to come up with how to deal with them."