Who wants to be a millionaire? Not me! Sixth contestant to win £1m jackpot on ITV quiz show gives away his fortune and is spending his retirement playing table tennis, snooker... and taking part in local pub quizzes

One of the only winners of the full seven-figure jackpot prize in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's 25 year history has quietly given away his fortune, we can reveal.

Donald Fear, 61, became only the sixth contestant to win the big prize on the hugely popular ITV quiz show in 2020.

But he only kept a fraction of his winnings - enough to fund a modest retirement - and gave away £700,000 of his million-pound windfall to family and friends.

And Mr Fear even forgot to buy his wife anything at all from his winnings - except a £30 pair of walking boots.

He told MailOnline: 'Giving the money away was the best thing that happened.'

Donald Fear (left), 61, became only the sixth contestant to win the big prize on the hugely popular ITV quiz show in 2020

The former history and politics teacher enjoys playing table tennis and snooker in his spare time

And incredibly he only went on the show after his brother won the penultimate stage the year before on the show: Davyth Fear took home £500,000 in 2019, a win that inspired Donald to apply too - only to go one better.

Former history and politics teacher Mr Fear now spends his days playing table tennis and snooker as well as competing in two local pub quizzes a week and looking after his beloved grandchildren.

He remains the only British contestant to have won using just one lifeline - the 50:50.

He is also the only player who conquered the quiz show with Jeremy Clarkson as host, with Judith Keppel, David Edwards, Robert Brydges, Pat Gibson and Ingram Wilcox all taking home the million pounds while Chris Tarrant was presenting. Former Army Major Charles Ingram also won but was later found to have cheated.

After his win he decided to keep just enough of the prize money to allow him to retire from teaching after 33 years and purchase a motorhome for him and his wife Debs, 60, to take on holidays.

Mr Fear and his wife, who have been married for 37 years, said they never thought about leaving their home in the Shropshire countryside which they bought for £47,000 back in 1993.

Mr Fear gave £110,000 to each of his four children and divided a further £160,000 between his parents, his brother, his two sisters as well as his wife's mother and two siblings.

Mrs Fear, a former teacher and nurse who retired last year, jokes that she was only ever treated to a £30 pair of boots - and even paid for the couple's new kitchen with her own money.

Speaking alongside his wife at their home in the sleepy Shropshire hamlet of Admanston, Mr Fear told MailOnline: 'The win will have its knock on legacy for a couple of generations to come hopefully.'

Mrs Fear, added: 'It hasn't really been life-changing as people would think because he decided to help the family so much which was lovely… I think we've got quite simple tastes really. We don't go for big flashy things.

He remains the only British contestant to have won using just one lifeline - the 50:50

Mr Fear and his wife (pictured), who have been married for 37 years, said they never thought about leaving their home in the Shropshire countryside which they bought for £47,000 back in 1993

'That was the nice thing - that everyone benefitted. I don't think I could have been happy if we had lots and lots of money and members of our family didn't. We all benefitted.

'The other thing that was nice was people were genuinely pleased for us and were saying it couldn't have happened to nicer people. And that was just lovely to hear that from lots of people.'

Mr Fear, who was born in Bristol before moving to Wales and then Shropshire, continued: 'It struck me afterwards that the one person that didn't get anything was [my wife] because it just didn't occur to me! As far as I was concerned it was our money.

His wife, whom he married on August 8 1987, joked: 'I think you bought me a pair of boots! £30 boots I got!'

Mr Fear replied: 'You'd think I'd have got you a car or something… I'm very lucky not to be divorced as a result of that I think.'

The couple have, however, enjoyed trips to France and Spain in their £53,000 motor home, which proudly sits in their driveway. After Mr Fear won the show, they celebrated by taking the caravan down to Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.

His wife joked: 'It was already booked anyway!'

Reflecting on life after teaching, he added: 'I love retirement, I can waste time for England me. I've joined the Rotary Club, I play league table tennis, I play snooker a couple of times a week, I do a couple pubs quizzes, it's an amazing social life, it's great. And of course, the grandchildren have all come along since.'

The Fears have also been attending Slimming World at their local community centre - but Mr Fear confessed that he's 'giving up because it's a waste of time!'.

The father-of-four won Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in July 2020 with no audience due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Fear, who is retired, plays league table tennis as well as snooker and is part of a Rotary Club

The couple have, however, enjoyed trips to France and Spain in their £53,000 motor home, which proudly sits in their driveway. After Mr Fear won the show, they celebrated by taking the caravan down to Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

The final question he answered correctly was: 'In 1718, which pirate died in battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina?' He said he knew the answer – Blackbeard – before the options even came up because he taught it to his pupils at the Wakeman School in Shrewsbury, which he worked at before joining Haberdashers' Adams Grammar School in Newport.

He had to keep his win a secret until the show was aired on ITV two months later. Mr Fear, who would go on to retire in December that year, announced to the school assembly that they should all watch ITV at 8pm that night.

After his secret was finally let out to the world, neighbours of the couple came and congratulated them outside their home.

Mrs Fear recalled: 'I remember the night it was shown on TV at the end all the neighbours came out and they were all standing outside clapping. And they said 'Oh I expect you're going to be moving now'.'

'And it never even entered our heads to move house. We like this area.'

'Quite honestly there wasn't enough money left to move house,' Mr Fear added.

He continued: 'If you buy a million-pound mansion, what's left? Nothing left or you've got a big mortgage. I don't intend to go into retirement with a mortgage, no thank you. It took us long enough getting rid of the first one!'

Mr Fear had to wait four weeks for the million to land in his bank account after the show aired.

He recalled: 'I went to bed on the crucial night and took a last look at my bank account at about 11.30pm and there was £7,000 in it, something like that, all the money I was able to save over my entire 33-year career, I know pathetic!

Mr Fear had to wait four weeks for the million to land in his bank account after the show aired

The father-of-four won Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in July 2020 with no audience due to the Covid-19 pandemic

'But then I woke up the next morning and it was £1milllion and the £7,000! That was quite a feeling I have to say. I took a photograph of it because I knew I was going to be giving large sums away and so it wouldn't be there very long so I may as well enjoy the moment!'

Mr Fear, who was described at the time as 'one of the best contestants ever' by Clarkson, said he has made a number of home improvements since winning - and he now plans to embark on more trips with his wife in their retirement.

The couple plan to holiday to France and Italy in the caravan this summer and hope to travel further afield to India or South America in the future. Last February, they enjoyed a trip to Australia which they insist they would not have been able to do without the win.

Mr Fear, who continues to live a humble life, said the money has allowed them to make home improvements such as in their living room and their bedroom as well as spending £10,000 on a veranda in the garden.

'The major thing it bought me was early retirement, so I was able to retire at 58 when I would have struggled to retire at 60, given that I'd always been in a poor bloody infantry as a teacher,' he added.

'I was never head of department, well I was head of department of a one-man department which hardly counts! I was never head of year or deputy head or anything like that so the salary of which my pension was based was going to be fairly modest so retiring before 60 was just going to be a pipe dream.'

Mr Fear now competes in pub quizzes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Red Lion in Wellington and the Last Inn Newport.

'We don't always win and frankly I'm the weakest member of our team!' Mr Fear added. 'There's a couple lads I teach in the team, one of them particular is an absolute genius. If he was going to go on Millionaire, he'd win it for sure.'

Although the pub quiz regulars joke 'oh it's him again!', Mr Fear describes himself as 'very much on the Z-list of celebrities'.

He added: 'For a couple of months I was being recognised at places like Shrewsbury Market. But that didn't last long - no one knows who I am now!'

Mr Fear says it is 'wonderful' to have made such a positive impact on the lives of his family.

Mr Fear, who was described at the time as 'one of the best contestants ever' by Clarkson, said he has made a number of home improvements since winning - and he now plans to embark on more trips with his wife in their retirement

Mr Fear, who continues to live a humble life, said the money has allowed them to make home improvements such as in their living room and their bedroom as well as spending £10,000 on a veranda in the garden

'It's nice because the eldest and youngest daughters both used it for property, middle daughter didn't need it for property but she was able to set up a small business instead,' he explained. 'That made her so much happier, she was working minimum wage jobs for not very nice employers to be honest and she became her own boss.

'It's wonderful. Nothing compared to the positive impact they've had on me! I'm a much better person because of those people.'

Mrs Fear added: 'It's been nice. Unfortunately my father passed away at the time of the win and he never got to know because we had to keep it quiet, so I think the money made such a difference to my mother because she did a lot to her house, it kept her busy, I think it helped her get over it.

'Every time I see her, she still talks about it how grateful she is and what a lovely thing you did. So it really has made a difference to people.

Mr Fear continued: 'Quite frankly, it didn't occur to me not to do it - I'd already had a list of people who was going to get what. It's just wonderful to have the opportunity to do that kind of thing.'

The grandfather-of-four has around 60 to 70 per cent left of the £300,000 he ended up with - but it is all tied up in investments.

He joked: 'It's probably just as well, if it was just in a current account I'd be dipping into it for no reason at all. I'm not the most frugal of people, unlike my wife!

The most recent Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winner says that he has only watched his episode back twice - but he is looking forward to telling his grandchildren that their grandfather was once on TV.

He also hopes that one day there might be a reunion episode with the five other Who Wants to Be a Millionaire winners.