Pat Gibson

Patrick Gibson (born 19 July 1961) is an Irish quizzer. On 24 April 2004 he became the fourth contestant to win the £1m jackpot on the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He is a multiple world champion in quizzing and one of the world's most successful quiz players. He is best known for winning several quiz shows and being a panellist on Eggheads. He was born, raised and educated in Ireland but currently lives in the United Kingdom and competes as part of the England quiz team. As of 5 December 2018, Gibson is currently the No. 1 ranked quizzer in the world.[1]

For the Australian rugby league player, see Pat Gibson (rugby league).

Pat Gibson
Pat Gibson at the European Quizzing Championship 2011 in Bruges, Belgium
Born (1961-07-19) 19 July 1961
Galway, County Galway, Ireland
Known for

Early life and education

Pat was born in Galway in 1961. He moved to Letterkenny, County Donegal in the early 1970s.[2] He was educated at Scoil Colmcille and St Eunan's College in Letterkenny. Pat holds an engineering degree from University College Galway.[3][4] He emigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1980s, where he trained as a COBOL computer programmer.[5]

TV quiz shows

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
£1 million (15 of 15)
Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?
⬥ A: Arlington Million ⬥ B: Belmont Stakes
⬥ C: Kentucky Derby ⬥ D: Preakness Stakes
Gibson's £1 million question

On his one million pound question, he still had his 50:50 and phone a friend (he had used the Ask-the-Audience lifeline on the £64,000 question). The question was "Which of these is not one of the American Triple Crown horse races?" Gibson used the 50:50 first, where B. "Belmont Stakes" and D. "Preakness Stakes" disappeared. With A. "Arlington Million" and C. "Kentucky Derby", he then used his phone-a-friend option, phoning Mark Kerr (a highly ranked British quiz player and winner of TV's "Brainiest Estate Agent" title, as well as winner of £250,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire[6]) who said he was 90% sure the answer was Arlington Million, which was Pat's original instinct. Gibson had acted as Kerr's phone-a-friend during his appearance on the show during the same series (15), broadcast weeks before Gibson's success. He correctly answered "Arlington Million" to win £1 million.

Mastermind

In 2005 he was crowned champion of Mastermind:[7] his specialist subjects included Father Ted, the books of Iain M. Banks and the films of Quentin Tarantino.

On 6 August 2010 he was crowned Mastermind Champion of Champions with a winning score of 36 points with no passes. Jesse Honey also scored 36 but had 2 passes.

Brain of Britain

On 25 December 2006 he won the BBC Radio 4 quiz show Brain of Britain,[7] becoming only the fourth person after Roger Pritchard, Kevin Ashman and Chris Hughes to win both that and Mastermind.

In 2008 he finished third in BBC Radio 4's Brain of Brains, behind Egghead Chris Hughes and the eventual winner, 2008 World Quizzing Champion Mark Bytheway.

Eggheads and Are You an Egghead?

Gibson competed in both the first and second series of Are You an Egghead?, a series seeking a new panellist to join the resident team on the BBC Two / 12 Yard quiz show Eggheads. In the first series, he was beaten in the quarter-finals by friend Mark Kerr. He returned for the second series in 2009, and won the final broadcast on 23 November 2009, beating fellow Mastermind and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? winner David Edwards and thereby claiming a place on the Eggheads team.

National and international quizzing championships
Pat Gibson
Medal record
Quizzing
Representing England
British Championships (BQC)
Silver medal – second place2004 Old Trafford Singles
Silver medal – second place2006 Shrewsbury Singles
Gold medal – first place2006 Shrewsbury Pairs
Gold medal – first place2007 Staveley Singles
Bronze medal – third place2009 Derby Singles
Gold medal – first place2010 Derby Singles
Gold medal – first place2011 Lichfield Pairs
Silver medal – second place2011 Lichfield Singles
Silver medal – second place2013 Hilton Singles
Gold medal – first place2014 Rothwell Singles
Gold medal – first place2015 Newark Singles
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2003 Villa Park Singles
Silver medal – second place2004 Old Trafford Singles
Silver medal – second place2005 Silverstone Singles
Silver medal – second place2006 Newport Singles
Gold medal – first place2007 Irthlingborough Singles
Gold medal – first place2010 Peterborough Singles
Gold medal – first place2011 Lichfield Singles
Silver medal – second place2012 Lichfield Singles
Gold medal – first place2013 Masham Singles
Bronze medal – third place2015 Burton upon TrentSingles
Bronze medal – third place2016 NorthamptonSingles
Bronze medal – third place2017 NorthamptonSingles
Bronze medal – third place2018 Singles
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place2004 Ghent Singles
Gold medal – first place2004 Ghent National Team
Bronze medal – third place2005 Tallinn Singles
Gold medal – first place2005 Tallinn Pairs
Silver medal – second place2005 Tallinn National Team
Bronze medal – third place2006 Paris Singles
Silver medal – second place2006 Paris National Team
Silver medal – second place2006 Paris Club
Bronze medal – third place2007 Blackpool Singles
Gold medal – first place2007 Blackpool National Team
Silver medal – second place2008 Oslo Singles
Silver medal – second place2008 Oslo National Team
Silver medal – second place2008 Oslo Club
Bronze medal – third place2009 Dordrecht Singles
Silver medal – second place2009 Dordrecht Pairs
Gold medal – first place2009 Dordrecht National Team
Bronze medal – third place2010 Derby Singles
Gold medal – first place2010 Derby Pairs
Gold medal – first place2010 Derby National Team
Silver medal – second place2011 Bruges Singles
Gold medal – first place2011 Bruges Pairs
Gold medal – first place2012 Tartu Pairs
Gold medal – first place2012 Tartu National Team
Gold medal – first place2013 Liverpool Pairs
Gold medal – first place2013 Liverpool National Team
Gold medal – first place2013 Liverpool Club
Silver medal – second place2013 Liverpool Masters
Silver medal – second place2014 Bucharest Pairs
Gold medal – first place2014 Bucharest National Team
Bronze medal – third place2015 Rotterdam Singles
Gold medal – first place2015 Rotterdam Pairs
Gold medal – first place2015 Rotterdam National Team
Bronze medal – third place2016 Athens Singles
Gold medal – first place2016 Athens Pairs
Gold medal – first place2016 Athens National Team
Bronze medal – third place2016 Athens Club
Gold medal – first place2017 Zagreb Singles
Gold medal – first place2017 Zagreb Pairs
Gold medal – first place2017 Zagreb National Team
Gold medal – first place2018 Venice Singles
Silver medal – second place2018 Venice Pairs
Bronze medal – third place2018 Venice National Team
Gold medal – first place2019 Sofia Pairs
Gold medal – first place2019 Sofia National Team
Bronze medal – third place2019 Sofias Club

He has amassed 25 international medals (7 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze), the second highest total ever (behind Kevin Ashman with 27) and is ranked the second strongest player in the World/Europe.[8] In 2007 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship. In pairs competitions he partners Ian Bayley and they have won the British and European titles.

In 2010 Gibson won the IQA World Quizzing Championship achieving an all-time high score of 180/210, defeating both Kevin Ashman and Belgian Ronny Swiggers who tied at 169/210. Gibson retained the World Quizzing Championship title in 2011 with a score of 186/210, a 10-point margin over Kevin Ashman, and won again in 2013 with a score of 172/210.

Despite being originally from Ireland, Gibson competes for the England team.

Domestic competition

Pat plays in the Summer in the Orrell and District League for the Millstone team, and in the winter in the Ormskirk league for Collywobblers.

References
  1. "Current Standings – World Quiz Rankings".
  2. "Face to Face with Pat Gibson". independent. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. Donegal Democrat Ex- St. Eunan's student wins Mastermind championship Archived 18 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "IRELAND'S SMARTEST MAN? Who Wants To Be A Millionaire winner Pat Gibson". Bray People. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  5. Face to Face with Pat Gibson Wexford People, September 29, 2010.
  6. "Estate agent is a quiz king". St Helens Reporter. St Helens Reporter. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  7. Kindon, Frances (15 April 2020). "Millionaire winners now - bankruptcy, backlash and gruesome gardening accidents". mirror. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  8. International Quizzing Association, Rankings
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