A Deal Or No Deal player who managed to bag some cash revealed the real reason why she couldn’t spend her winnings for months. Janet Swannell featured on the ITV hit show and it was a successful outcome as she ultimately walked away with £8k in prize money.
However, the children’s entertainer confirmed that the prize money is real but you don’t have immediate access to the cash inside the case. Spilling some behind-the-scenes secrets with viewers, Janet took to her TikTok page and revealed that she had to wait until her episode aired to be able to enjoy the money.
She admitted that it was “not an easy secret to keep” as she originally filmed the episode in November 2024 but it didn’t air until January this year, reports the Mirror. While sitting in her car, she said: “I have a loud mouth and it was not an easy secret to keep. Lots of people are asking ‘when did you get your winnings?’ The answer is not a simple one.”
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Janet explained: “Basically, there are 2 options, You either get your winnings 6 weeks after your game airs on ITV or 6 months after you play and you sit in the hot seat, whichever comes sooner.
“So for me, I recorded my show in November 2024 so I got my money around May because my episode only aired January 2026, which is crazy. I couldn’t tell anyone for over 12 months despite everybody asking and asking. Honestly, if you ask all my friends, I did not tell them.”
Sharing the main reason why she kept her win under wraps, she continued: “Mainly because I didn’t want to get sued by ITV. And the other reason is I wanted my friends and family to see it with the excitement of the game.”
Dropping more show ‘secrets’ she went on: “A little secret, which nobody knows is that actually my partner, my mum and my daughter were in the audience. Because I live local to the studios, they were actually there for the day so they were all sworn to secrecy as well.
“But yeah, the reason that you don’t get paid is because if you then blab and you ruin it for everyone, you’ve signed a contract and that money’s not yours.”
Janet also shared details of how contestants are selected to play. When a new game begins the names of every player in the studio are spun on a screen and one is randomly chosen. Quite often, contestants’ family members will be shown sat on the front row of the audience.
She revealed: “There is a little secret fun fact about that. We are picked at random and we do not know when we are going to play. So the reactions that you see on the day are true.
“But there are several players that are shortlisted per day, so that their family and friends can travel to the studios to make sure they’re in the audience just in case.”
She added: “I know some family or friends that have travelled from Cornwall or Devon or Scotland and their person didn’t play.
“Just because your family member’s in the audience does not mean you’re gonna play, we are shortlisted, so that several players are on the standby list and then only one’s chosen.”
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