Holly Barclay / 20 August 2025 / Categories: Movie and TV Shows, TV Show

Deal Or No Deal ITV2 Gambling Show hosted by Stephen Mulhern

long running British game show first hosted by Noel Edmonds in 2005

Sometimes it’s joyous and sometimes we have to switch off mid show because it’s such a painful watch we can’t stand it. No one wants to watch people crying after hopes and dreams are shattered. The jeopardy of the show.

I decided to share this snoop and confess I watch Deal or No deal, not religiously, I am not a raving fan but it does fill the 7.00pm to 8.00pm slot if I am not interested in what Channel 4 News are covering.

If you haven’t watched it, 22 players each select at random one of twenty two boxes, each with a different amount of money detailed inside, the low amounts are blue, the high amounts are red, 11 blues, 11 reds and then stand in a semi circle with the game board in the middle.

Each day one player is selected at random to go up against the banker, a mysterious figure we never meet or even hear at the end of a telephone line, the host Stephen Mulhern relays what the Banker says to the audience, and the player is betting the value of their box is higher than the banker’s offer to buy the box at the end of each opening box round. The player when they hear the offer for the box has the option to deal or no deal, ie take the offer and end the game or carry on until there are only two boxes left on the board, their’s and one other player.

The objective to end with two boxes on the board with the highest value possible.

We do find ourselves commenting on how most people play this random game of luck choosing the order they intend to open the boxes ahead of time based on numbers that mean something to them, house numbers, birthdays, lucky numbers and such like and then a player comes along with no strategy in mind just believing the amount of money in her box is what she is destined to have and saying right from the start she is “going to stand on business” a term I have never heard before and play right through until the end.

The player was Nay Nay and I have NEVER seen a Deal or Deal episode or game like it. It aired on 18th August, 2025 and I highly recommend everyone watch it if you want to see what positivity and self belief can do for you. Nay Nay held her nerve throughout the whole game and it wasn’t a struggle for her. She said she would be happy with whatever she ended up with in the end. And surprisingly I believed her. She said she came to play the game and believed whole heartedly what was in her box was what was meant for her.

I won’t tell you what happened as for anyone who didn’t watch and wants to it would spoil this epic episode which we can all learn from.

Most people give up a few weeks of their life to be in Deal or No Deal, staying in a hotel with 21 strangers to have the chance to win up to £100,000 when their turn comes around.

Many of the games are so brutal to watch as the high reds are opened and the disappointment of the player is hard to mask.

The jeopardy of the game is you may have brought the blue 1p box to the table in which case you have the lowest value box on the board.

That said you may be lucky enough to leave the £100,000 red box unopened so no one knows which is on the table, the highest or lowest amount and the banker must then hedge the offer against the risk of the player scooping the highest jackpot prize.

It’s a very interesting game of psychology that is sometimes elating but often times cruel as you see the desire to win big overtake logic and common sense.

And yet sometimes the human spirit from a player like Nay Nay, described as having the voice of an angel and the heart of a lion gives us a very memorable look at what can happen when you simply believe whole heartedly in something and I am not talking about God.

Go and check it out. Deal or No Deal, 18th August, 2025.