Cathy won £8000

Wednesday and just like the boxes, we are waiting for a good a result - its been a bit mundane of late. Noel calls us to arms, DOND was 'the 'tumble dryer of decisions', presumably in the laundrymat of fate. He continued 'someone here might have their life changed forever'. [Not wishing to argue Noel, but from the contestants comments on this blog it is pretty clear that there is no 'might' about it.] Today it was Cathy's 15 minutes of fame. Very nervous and giggling as she got to the chair, Cathy had been an air stewardess for over 16 years on DC10s (so probably a Caledonian girl?). Cathy was a woman of the larger persuasion, her previous employers would have had a hard time transferring her from wide-bodied aircraft, but when she is happy and smiling there is something very sexy going on there - or maybe its just me. Her Mum died last year, maybe this explains the apparent mood swings in previous programs, or maybe it was being a Manchester United fan.

Round one: To start Cathy went to box 12, Sandy - £10p. The crowd roared into action, and we were under way. 'My dear friend Pat' said Cathy. ‘How are you feeling today, Pat?' asked Noel. 'If you behave yourself I'll be fine’, the relationship between Noel and Pat was settling nicely. Pat opened Box 11 - £250. Gabrielle next with number 9 - £50,000. ‘It could have been worse’, said Cathy. Richard lifted the lid on box 18 - £100. One more to go, Cathy taking a good look at the wings – she chose John, number 3. ‘The Terminator’ had just lost his title - 50p. Noel chatted to the banker while Cathy gazed into the far distance - the offer was £1400. A brief hint of shock flew past her - 'No deal'. An insulting offer said Noel, don't let it get to you'. ‘No I don't said Cathy’, but her voice said different. The offer was extremely low, something was wrong.

Round two: Linda box 22 - £20,000 and then Michael box 4 - £75,000. Big reds were falling like pins and this was rapidly looking ominous. 'Maybe I should have had a system', Cathy was feeling vunerable. She asked for Dot like a cry for help. Noel interpreted the banker's first offer as a statement that he thought she was a ‘hard cookie’ - and not the emotional rollercoaster she had portrayed. Dot opened her box and it was £5. The offer was £4700, 'the last offer if she had any sense', said Noel quoting the banker - 'No deal', said Cathy her face reddening with anger.

Round three: Morris - 'Hello Cath we are in Bristol not in Bath, so lets keep it low and have a laugh’ - £50. 'Delectable, delicious Gary please' said Cathy going down the route of a greasy nightclub host. He opened box 19 - £10,000. 'The very lovely, sensible Massimo', I am turning a bit green by this point - box 8. 'I hope this eight is great', continuing the Muhammed Ali hiku started by Morris, but it was £5000. Waiting for the phone to ring Noel asked 'What do you think it is? He doesn't think you are genuine'. 'This is me', responded Cathy defensively. The board had five blues against six reds. Noel replaced the receiver and started toying with Cathy about how much the offer could be, eventually he said, 'he is offering you £14,000 to go'. Michael advised 'if you knock out the big ones in the next round you are not going to get an offer higher than that - there is a lot of risk there', so mark him down as a boring player when the time comes. She umm'd and ah'd - but I think the banker was right, Cathy had a hard edge - there was no real concern as she said 'No Deal'.

Round four: Hilary, box 2 - £35,000, 'your best fall back position has gone' warned Noel. Cathy, her voice shaking, took her time deciding on the next box. Finally choosing Maxine with box 5 - 1p. Cathy cheered and the audience joined in, but they didn't seem to be exactly with her, maybe the banker's words were making them think. A long time looking around the studio and then Cathy settled on Dave W. After the break, Dave opened his box and there it was - £250,000 - no adulation for Dave today. Cathy was not as affected by this as one would have expected - the £100,000 was still there, but after that she would fall to the £15,000. The banker offered her a ticket out of there - £7470. She went for a sweep of the contestants which was not very helpful, they were split 50-50. Cathy's serious face, this woman had a lot of inner strength - 'No deal'.

Round five: Raj the new guy, opened his lid on £10. Then Sarah with box 20, and there it was - the £100,000. Noel shouted out 'THATS IT', he could just as easily have said 'THIS IS THE END'. Cathy's voice shaking, trying to ignore the desperation of her position, she went for ’our Claire’. Claire opened box 10 - £1000. Noel looked to Cathy – ‘You ok?’. Cathy’s red face holding back tears, 'Yeah I'm fine, honestly'. Noel looked for the silver lining - 'The biggest offer you have had so far was £14,000, the £15,000 could be in this box, in which case you would have been very astute.' The offer was £2000. James was asked for his opinion - 'you are in a bit of a pickle, but you have come this far'. Cathy, was resigning herself to the end game - 'No deal'.

Round six: The board now consisted of three blues and two reds – Cathy was fighting the odds. Dave E opened box 14 - £500. Two to go, could she do it? Fadil had box 7 and he punched the air as he revealed £750. The crowd cheering wildly now. Noel looking very concerned, hoping that he could get her through to a decent offer. Finally she went to Julia with box 21 - £1. This was some kind of turn around - she had got to a position where she was going home with at least £3000. This woman had come to the chair with the reputation as a moody, deceptive shadow. But she had shown her mettle, she had won the audience, and now she was winning the game. The offer was £8000. Gary said 'don't push your luck'. Cathy had come this far, what was she going to do? She looked into Noel's eyes, her face relaxed into a smile and she said 'Deal'. And within a few seconds we found that she only had £3000 in her box. This may or may not mean that she beat the banker, afterall she could have swapped the final box.

This was an interesting game in that it should serve as a warning to other contestants - something in Cathy's behaviour during previous games had said to the banker that he should bid low. It should be clear from game reports that Cathy seemed to be a real yo-yo emotionally - sometimes in fits of giggles and other times at the point of tears, for no apparent reason in either case.