A FORMER Helensburgh submariner has admitted his exit from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? "stung at the time" - but he's now well on the way to turning it into a funny anecdote.

Former warrant officer marine engineer Justin Beattie, who spent 20 years living in the Burgh before leaving the Royal Navy in 2015, took his place in the hot seat on Sunday’s episode of the ITV quiz show.

Justin, 49, had all four lifelines remaining after successfully answering nine questions, but came unstuck when going for £32,000.

Asked ‘Which sportsman retired aged just 26, before making an unsuccessful return to competition eight years later?’ Justin incorrectly guessed Carl Lewis –costing him £15,000, and his dream of opening a micro pub.

Unable to contain his shock, Justin blurted out an expletive when host Jeremy Clarkson revealed the correct answer.

And after stating he did, in fact, know the right answer (Björn Borg), Justin – who now lives in Bristol – said the experience left him with a sinking feeling.

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“That’s what happens when you’re thinking of one athlete whilst picturing another,” he told the Advertiser.

“I can’t hold it against Carl Lewis, it was totally self-inflicted.

“I can’t lie, it was a bit of a sting at the time but I’m well on the way to turning it into a funny anecdote and taking the sting out of it that way.

“That’s probably the least painful way to look at it.”

A former member of the Helensburgh and District Round Table, Justin featured in the Advertiser’s Looking Back section earlier this month as we reported on his appearance on another favourite TV gameshow, Mastermind, in 2006.

No stranger to testing his intellectual mettle on television, he has also reached the quarter-finals of Masterchef, won Wheel of Fortune, and scooped the £10,000 prize on Tipping Point.

He continued: “I was nervous with the first couple of questions [on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?], and then I relaxed into it a bit, and I clearly relaxed a bit too far.

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“It’s easy to forget it’s not a pub quiz. The consequences of getting a question wrong are disaster, not just ‘oh well, I got that question wrong, what’s the next question?’.

“Reflecting on it now, would I have done anything different? I’d have answered the question right!

“If I’d have used 50/50 I’d probably have got through. If I’d asked Jeremy I would’ve got through, and if I’d used one of my phone-a-friends, I would’ve got through.

“It might take a while to fully see the funny side of it.”

Justin now works for an engineering company in Bath and maintains strong links with the Helensburgh area, so can TV viewers here expect to see his face on the small screen again?

“I have no applications in the works at the moment,” he said.

“The reaction from friends and family [after Sunday’s episode] was sympathy – much more than I expected.

“They’ve been quite gentle with the teasing so far.

“It was definitely a good laugh and I’m taking it now as an opportunity for personal growth!”

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