Deaf quizzer, Ciaran McCarthy, tells us about his time on a TV quiz show! (BSL)

Hi, my name is Ciaran McCarthy, I have been profoundly deaf since birth and have been using BSL for all of my life. I live in Kempston, Bedfordshire and I am currently working as a postman – I’ve been in this role for just a year so far!

I would like to tell you about my time on the quiz show, Sitting On a Fortune. It is an ITV quiz show hosted by Gary Lineker. Basically one of 6 players will answer questions while they are sat on the ‘money chair’ and they have to give a second or third correct answer to go to through the final to win up to possibly £100K!

But if the player who sits on the money chair gives the wrong answer, they will have to relegate to the back chair and possibly risk being sent home so ultimately anyone on the show can win! There are only 3 players are playing in the final where you can win up to £100K.

To be fair I didn’t actually apply to go on Sitting on a Fortune but one of the senior casting producers emailed me to ask if I was interested to apply for another gameshow called Moneyball which was produced by the same production company (Potato.)

I auditioned for Moneyball series 1 and got through the audition. So they asked me if I was interested to reapply for the second series of Moneyball but with someone else. I turned this offer down but suggested that I was interested to apply for Sitting on a Fortune – a new game show instead. They were delighted by this!

I applied for Sitting on a Fortune because the format is very straightforward and as well I believe it is a good gameshow to play for fun! I also love the feeling of excited tension in a show, and wouldn’t £100K be a great amount of money to win!

The process has been really smooth and the whole team were very supportive. Their deaf awareness has been impressive especially as it was their first time to have cast deaf people in the show.

The crew and producers all learnt a lot from our interpreters. They provided three interpreters for the show – this was made up of one interpreter who worked with me backstage, one in the studio and another one of them working with an Independent Adjudicator.

They are very strict with interpreter boundaries as I was not allowed to have lots of interaction with the studio interpreter during filming or before filming so me and the studio interpreter only managed to have a brief introduction.

It was very interesting because it doesn’t usually happen like that before – I have appeared on two other television quiz shows previously. However, I do think it is sensible because 100k is a massive amount of money to win and nobody wants to be accused of cheating which would look really bad on TV!

I really enjoyed the experience over there because everyone – including the contestants and the crew – were so lovely and friendly which made me feel really welcome and calmed my nerves. I was feeling very nervous because anything can happen and I didn’t want to be first person to exit in the first round!

At the same time I was excited to see how it felt being in a professional studio with a live audience which really ramped up my adrenaline and made it feel so much more exciting!

Also, I have to add that Gary Lineker is an absolutely lovely, genuine presenter. We managed to have a little chat for a bit before the filming start and as well as after filming too. I was so delighted to get picked for the show because a prime-time gameshow is very tricky to be chosen for, as they can only take roughly 50 people out of possible 1,000 people who have applied.

I would massively recommend more deaf people to apply to go on a TV show! I believe deaf people may have a very good chance to be chosen and take part because casting producers strive to have diverse contenstants. Also, as well as getting the chance to go on television, you could win a really good amount of money which may change your life!

The quiz shows I have been on have been so positive with their deaf awareness and I was really impressed by how they listened to the advice of others to make sure my experience was accessible and fair.

The next TV shows I would to go on would be The Chase and The 1% club because I absolutely love quizzing!

By Ciaran McCarthy