Teacher’s £100k Gameshow Win ‘a Massive Surprise’

A Stafford teacher has described her shock after winning £100,000 on ITV’s hit gameshow The 1% Club. Maccisha Medford, currently on maternity leave from Walton Priory Middle School in Stone, said it took nearly a week for the reality of her victory to sink in.

From Watching at Home to Winning Big

Medford had always enjoyed watching the show and often did “fairly well at home,” but she never considered applying because filming takes place during the week while she was working. It was her husband who encouraged her to give it a try while she was on maternity leave.

“I didn’t think in a million years I would get on,” she admitted. “It’s all people with proper funny stories and really interesting things about them.”

A Nervy Start

Her journey on the show wasn’t without nerves. During the initial test of the contestant tablets, she got one of the practice questions wrong. “Once we’d done two or three, I was like OK, I can be calm again, until we got to about 25, 20%… we’re getting close now,” she recalled. As the questions grew harder, her heart rate soared. Contestants must answer a final question that only 1% of the UK population would know to secure the top prize.

The Winning Moment

When Medford reached the final round, she said she had an answer that “semi‑worked.” To her astonishment, it turned out to be correct. “It was a massive surprise when I actually got it right. You never in the moment think you’ve got it right,” she said. Because the episode was recorded in October, she had to keep the result secret from everyone except close family. “The further it got away, the more I was like, did that happen, did I dream that?” she admitted.

Life After the Win

The prize money means Medford can spend more time with her baby daughter, who is now six months old. “She was three months old when we recorded it, so I can actually have a year off with her. We can take her on nice holidays and do nice little day trips,” she said. Her victory aired over the weekend, sparking a flood of messages from friends and colleagues. “Saturday night was mental,” she laughed. On Monday, she celebrated by bringing treats into school.

Fun Facts and Personality

As part of her application, Medford shared quirky personal details: a bikeability instructor once mistook her for a child, and she has broken bones in the same foot seven times due to her clumsiness. Her relatable personality and surprising win have made her story one of the most talked‑about moments from The 1% Club.