Michael Owen had Deal or No Deal viewers screaming at their screens (Picture: ITV)
Michael Owen well and truly crashed and burned on Deal or No Deal.
Viewers were astounded by the ‘minted’ football star’s gameplay as he took on the Banker in aid of charity for the ITV revival’s Christmas special.
Michael was playing for Fight for Sight – which funds research into the prevention and treatment of blindness and eye disease – as his son has a rare deteriorating condition called Stargardt disease.
He had plenty of friends and loved ones in the crowd for support, with daughter Gemma Owen – of Love Island 2022 fame – being just one of the well-known faces behind the 22 red boxes.
Michael, 44, started his game off strong. Very strong, in fact, to the point where viewers at home questioned whether the special was ‘rigged’ in his favour (spoiler: it was not).
At one point, Michael was consecutively opening blue boxes, leaving the left-hand side of the board empty and only high red sums in play, with £100,000 and £25,000 up for grabs.
It all started out so well for the former footballer (Picture: ITV)
Stephen Mulhern was on hand for moral support as the Banker dished out low offers (Picture: ITV)
Sadly, the £100k was taken out and Michael was eventually left with £4,000, £5,000, and that killer £25k.
At this point, the anonymous Banker offered him £10,200, which Michael had to deliberate carefully.
He was encouraged to play on by his team, believing the £25k to be inside his box and, ultimately, the amount he would take away.
Daughter Gemma wasn’t confident, though, repeatedly telling her dad from the start that she had a bad feeling about her box.
After considering the possibilities, a smug Michael said ‘no deal’ to the £10k, which audiences at home were shocked by, given that it wasn’t certain he would walk away with anything more.
His adrenaline soon wore off, sadly, as the next box he opened was Gemma’s, who was proven right as the £25k was under her lid, prompting gasps of horror from the studio audience.
Michael was soon left in a sticky situation, with £4,000, £5,000, and £25,000 up for grabs (Picture: ITV)
He turned down an offer of £10.2k (Picture: ITV)
Daughter Gemma was certain the £25k was in her box – and she was correct (Picture: ITV)
So, left with either £4k or £5k, Michael’s game had come crumbling down in spectacular fashion.
His final offer from the Banker was just over £4k, which he declined in the hopes of winning something more.
When host Stephen Mulhern opened Michael’s box, he discovered he was sitting with £4k all along, therefore not beating the Banker at his own cruel game.
Reacting to the episode on X, formerly Twitter, social media users were stunned at how Michael was so sure and smug about turning down the £10k offer.
Plenty also questioned why the multi-millionaire was on the show in the first place and called for him to make up the £96k out of his own pocket.
‘These rich people are too casual with money. Hope he coughs up the difference to his top offer’, Greg Phillips wrote.
Michael took home £4k for his charity, but viewers demanded he makes up the difference (Picture: ITV)
Amy Hargitay-Visage added: ‘he could quadruple that in a heartbeat and not even notice the difference in his bank’.
‘Michael Owen is an absolute whopper. Anyone in their right mind, playing for charity, would’ve accepted the Deal and given them £10k to charity’, said user Cont_y_Llan.
‘Owen should top up that amount with £96k of his own money for his charity…’, demanded MrHyperCritic.
Ahead of his Deal or No Deal episode airing, Michael posed with presenter Stephen, who shared his excitement to Instagram.
‘I’m very excited because TONIGHT is our Deal or No Deal Christmas Special! It’s with the absolutely brilliant @TheMichaelOwen, who brought along his family and friends to try to beat Scrooge himself… The Banker!’, he penned.
‘You’re not going to want to miss it!’
Catch up with Deal or No Deal on ITVX.
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Viewers were screaming at their TV screens.
