Dave Ellis
Name: Dave Ellis
Broadcast: 25th April 2006
Job: Plasterer
Location: Luton
Before DOND:
‘One of my daughters saw the show, and entered herself, my brother and me. Perhaps it’s because I like cracking jokes and enjoy the limelight, but I was the only one who got through the audition. We’d agreed beforehand that we’d split any winnings three ways and I was going for £30,000 - £10,000 each. I wanted to help my daughter move out of a council flat and pay a bit towards her wedding and I wanted a good holiday too.
The hotel was fabulous, better than the best holiday of my life! Every night the winners would put £300 each behind the bar and we’d drink until it was gone. I don’t think I got to bed before 5.30am a single night. It took me a week afterwards to recover.’
On DOND:
‘I lost a couple of big ones early and the game went away from me. I wanted £30,000 and so long as there was a bigger red than that in the board, I was going all the way. I’m a gambler and I bet on anything – dogs, horses, two flies going up a wall. To me this was like roulette, you’re in and out of luck and no system in the world is going to help you. But being a gambler, I always expect to lose as well as win, so funnily enough when it started to go wrong I wasn’t that disappointed.
‘There comes a point when you want the penny, not a bigger sum – there’s more fame to it. My brother Jez was in the audience and at the end we were on the floor laughing, relieved it was the penny and not the £5. At the hotel, people were sorrier for me than I was for myself, and lots of them were crying. It’s a rollercoaster, up and down, and everyone wants you to win. I never cried but I was a bit disappointed. Still, I enjoyed every moment and if I had to do it all again, I’d play exactly the same way. I wouldn’t change the experience for the world.’
After DOND:
I’d been away for a few weeks and there was a lot of work piled up. A firm I’d been working for had gone bankrupt and their cheque bounced, so I wasn’t in a good financial way. But I soon got back on my feet.’
‘My daughter has blown up a picture of me shaking hands with Noel and framed it with the cheque. People have offered me thousands for that cheque, but I’m keeping it.
‘It was an eye-opener seeing the team on the show do jobs they really like. It made me think “Enough chasing money and work I don’t enjoy.” I packed in the building game and moved to a lovely spacious flat at the edge of a forest, overlooking a lake, doing maintenance for a conference centre. It’s more relaxing, and now I’m doing something I enjoy.’