Natalie won host Amanda Holden over with her craic and ‘winging it’ attitude
A Belfast nursing assistant used her charm and wit to come away with the top prize on a BBC gameshow this week.
Natalie Brown won £5,600 on Monday’s episode of The Inner Circle, hosted by Amanda Holden – the reason she went out on a whim to enter in the first place.
The Inner Circle sees contestants compete in a series of rounds designed to test their general knowledge and strategic thinking – however, they are not just tested on what they know, but which of their fellow players they can trust.
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As the contestants make their way through a series of games and challenges, they’ll need to decide which of their opponents they’d be prepared to join forces with in order to take home the prize.
After seeing a callout for contestants from Northern Ireland to enter the new gameshow on Belfast Live, the 23-year-old sent in an application with no expectation of getting on, but also with the hopes of getting back at her ex-boyfriend.
“It’s actually a really funny story,” she told Belfast Live.
“Me and my boyfriend had broken up and literally the next day, it came up like there was this game show coming out and they were looking for Northern Irish contestants.
“I said to myself that I’m gonna apply for it for a laugh because Amanda Holden was hosting it and my ex used to really fancy her so I was like ‘I can go on here and make him jealous, this is perfect’ and I did it.”
After admitting that general knowledge was not her strong suit, entering for an “utter laugh” and thinking her first audition had gone terribly, Natalie had accepted the fact that meeting Amanda was out the window.
“I had said to my mum that I had only got one question right so there’s no hope they are going to bring me on that and my mummy’s exact words were ‘they always have to have someone stupid on those shows’ and I went ‘right ok thanks for that’,” she laughed.
“Then I was at work one day in the Royal Hospital, chatting to one of my patients, when the phone kept ringing. I stepped out to take it after and the girl told me I had made it on to The Inner Circle.
“She said they loved my audition and want to have you on the show and I went ‘oh my word, no problem’.”
“I thought I’ll do it for an absolute joke – that’s actually my life, my life’s a joke,” she joked.
“I literally only applied to make my boyfriend jealous, but then me and my boyfriend got back together, so there was really no point.”
Her episode was filmed back in April, which she described as a great experience. Natalie stole the show with her humour and ‘winging it’ attitude which Amanda Holden could not get enough of during the filming.
She said the TV presenter, and her boyfriends’s girl crush, was “so dead on” and “the most gorgeous looking woman”.
In the final of The Inner Circle, the two remaining contestants must secretly decide if they are going to shaft or spilt the prize pot money in a tense showdown.
Natalie continued: “I honestly did not expect to win. I did not even expect to make it through the first round – it was just a pure fluke that I did.
“I was sure at the end at the guy was stealing it on me so I was like I’m just going shaft. I said I would shaft from the start but thinking I’d not make it to the final to have to make the decision.”
Thinking that they’d both hit shaft and neither would end up with the money, Natalie was left shocked and feeling awful in the moment that the other finalist wanted to split.
“When he didn’t shaft and he split, I went oh my word I’m going to be the most hated person in Belfast.”
Natalie has big plans for her winnings when they land, including treating her mum to a new sofa, looking into getting a new car and some spending money for her upcoming trip to Thailand.
“It was all just a pure fluke. I got on the game show, it was a pure fluke. I made it through the rounds and it was a pure fluke that I won it, but I just honestly I was not expecting any money at all.
“I kept saying to myself that if I go out, I had an absolute gig. I actually did not come here for money, I came here to make my boyfriend jealous, then I got back with him so it didn’t really matter,” she laughed
You can watch back Natalie’s episode of The Inner Circle here.
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