Contestants keen to participate in The 1% Club will be delighted to hear the ITV show is trialling a new format where players will have the opportunity to win up to £500,000

ITV has announced a special new version of The 1% Club will air this autumn(Image: ITV)

ITV’s hit quiz show The 1% Club is gearing up for its biggest challenge yet, as it returns this autumn with a special week-long event where the prize pot could soar to a staggering £500,000.

The award-winning series, which is hosted by comedian Lee Mack, will temporarily ditch its usual Saturday night slot for a primetime run called The 1% Club Rollover. Contestants will battle through the same mind-bending logic puzzles fans love across five consecutive nights, but this time, the stakes are even higher.

In a deviation from its standard format, The 1% Club Rollover allows any unclaimed prize money from one episode to roll over into the next day’s show. If nobody scoops the top cash, the jackpot could keep climbing until it hits the incredible £500,000 mark.

In The 1% Club Rollover contestants will have the opportunity to win more money than ever(Image: ITV)

In another twist, anyone who makes it as far as the elusive 1% question — which is one that only one in a hundred people are statistically able to answer — will automatically be invited back to compete again. This opens the door for savvy contestants to potentially win multiple times and seriously boost their winnings.

Sue Murphy, Head of Factual Entertainment at ITV, said: “The 1% Club Rollover as event TV is a perfect fit. The series continues to go from strength to strength and has become a must watch in homes across the country on Saturday nights. This special Rollover week will really be a primetime event that will have the nation hooked. Five nights of The 1% Club and Lee Mack… What’s not to like?”

The 1% Club has become a huge success since first airing in 2022. Instead of testing general knowledge, the quiz focuses on logic and problem-solving, with 100 players attempting to answer a series of increasingly difficult questions under pressure.

The ultimate goal is to correctly answer the fiendishly difficult final question that only 1% of the UK population typically gets right, which is a feat that is worth £100,000 in the traditional show format.

Viewers may be surprised to learn that some aspects of the show are cleverly edited for TV. Former contestant Heidi Phillips, 49, recently revealed that while players are answering questions in real time, Lee Mack’s comedic asides are actually filmed separately.

She told Fruity Slots: “While contestants are answering questions on the tablet, Lee usually takes the time to make a joke to the audience at home. But all his comical parts are filmed later. When we’re answering the question, he remains silent. Then he has to be filmed asking the question again and we have to pretend to put our answers in. That was a bit weird!”

Heidi also lifted the lid on the strict rules imposed on contestants to keep the game fair, explaining that players must keep their eyes locked on their own screens during filming.

She shared: “There were actually invigilators who go back through the show episode to make sure every contestant plays the game fairly. You could have won the cash prize but if they go back through filming and see you glanced over at another contestant’s screen before answering, you’ll forfeit the prize.”

Despite the intense rules, Heidi described Lee Mack as “honestly really funny” and said she would love to appear on the show again.