A FORMER Helensburgh resident is set to appear on one of the country’s biggest TV game shows – almost exactly 15 years since he last appeared on another of the small screen’s best-loved quizzes.
Justin Beattie, who now lives in Bristol but still has several close links to the Helensburgh area, featured in a recent recording of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
It’s understood that his appearance is likely to be broadcast this Sunday, January 24, at 8pm on ITV1.
Justin stayed tight-lipped about his experience when we contacted him this week, except for this intriguing message: "Let's just say it makes for good TV..."
Justin is no stranger to TV quiz shows – in fact, the 'Looking Back' section of the Advertiser's latest print edition features our coverage, 15 years ago this week, of Justin's then-forthcoming appearance on the BBC's long-running Mastermind quiz show.
Here's how we reported the news in the Advertiser on January 19, 2006...
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A SMART naval officer is hoping to finish what he started by winning TV’s toughest mind challenge - Mastermind.
Chief Petty Officer Justin Beattie will be showing off his knowledge on the popular quiz show after beating thousands of hopeful contestants to land the starring role.
Brainbox Justin, who looks after his sub’s nuclear reactor, is busy studying for his nerve-wracking appearance on the small screen which will be filmed in March.
The gameshow-mad dad-of-two didn’t have an easy time getting to the finals and had to go through a rigorous vetting procedure during auditions at the Hilton Hotel in the west end of Glasgow.
The 34-year-old, who has been a Navy officer for 15 years, was nearly scuppered by a question about a radioactive element.
He said: “One of the questions which I didn’t get was which element named after a place in Scotland is used to make the red colour in fireworks.
"But thankfully I got through and found out I had been chosen on December 22. It was a nice Christmas present.”
Confident Justin will have his work cut out after failing to get the topics he read-up on.
He added: “I wanted to answer questions on the cyclist Lance Armstrong, the films of Jim Jarmusch and the history of the Tour de France, but instead I got the life and works of Hunter S. Thompson, the Spanish Civil war and the plays of Alan Ayckbourn.”
The academically minded sailor, who is presently working as a maintenance manager in Coulport, is busy studying towards a degree in humanities from the Open University and says his family and friends are impresses by his achievement.
He added: “But they also laugh at me for being so stupid as well.”
Originally from Bangor, Justin is no stranger to television game shows having had relative success on a number of different programmes.
He said: “I was humiliated on the The National Lottery Jet Set when couldn’t tell the difference between A4 and A5 paper.
"I lost out on a week’s holiday in Switzerland for me and my wife with a chance to rally drive on ice with Colin MacRae.
“ I have won trips abroad, a £2,000 Dyson and a camcorder in Wheel of Fortune.”
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