I’m a quizzer, always have been, but I never thought about applying to go on a quiz show until last year. I’m a big fan of The Chase (the UK version) and I’ve been watching it and playing it with my middle son. The game has three steps, the Cashbuilder, the Individual round where you choose where to start from in a chase with the Chaser and the Final Chase. It’s possible to win good amounts as long as you win the Final Chase.

My son badgered me. Every time we watched he’d ask “Which amount are you going for?” and I always said “Go Large, or Go Home.” Eventually he just said, “Listen, Mum, you do this Chase with me every day, and you go large every day and you win almost every time. You need too apply!!!”

So I did, and got to the auditions, passed them and got a date to be filmed. Still every day we watched the program and I ‘went large’. In my living room I was winning £30,000 or £40,000 every day. I knew I wanted to do my best on the real thing.

As the day approached, I wanted to be really prepared. I trained like an athlete. I read quizzes, watched every quiz I could find, played the Chase app on my phone, but even more importantly, I visualized myself winning. I wanted to be on Seat 4, I’d picked out a choice of 2 Chasers I wanted to face, and I knew that I would be “Going Large”. I’d stopped saying “or go home” because that wasn’t an option. I knew that, statistically, I stood a good chance of winning and I really wanted to.

The week before the Chase I figured out a number I wanted to win at least. I printed out The Secret check and filled it in for £15,000. I thought that was a good start and carried it with me. I kept looking at it, imagining how it would feel, what I would say.

I traveled to London alone, the first overnight without a companion ever. I loved it, and was never alone. On journeys, at meal times, wherever, I always found a person to talk to. I slept well and went to the studios feeling confident. I had no nerves, I appreciated every thing that was happening around me, I was really, sincerely grounded and living in the moment.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

I was assigned my seat number; 4. Just the one I wanted! When the first person faced the Chaser, I waited to see which one came out. Yes! One of my top two choices! I knew I could beat him, and I watched the others take their turns. By the time it was my turn we had 13,000 in the pot and two players through.

In my cashbuilder I scored £7,000. I waited for the offers; £1,000, no chance; my £7,000 cashbuilder or  £47,000!!!!! That would give a combined pot of £60,000, a share of £20,000 each!!!! It was a no-brainer. I jumped at the chance and played the game of my life. I finished off my individual round 3 steps ahead of the Chaser, and through to the final.

We smashed it after a tense chase at the start. Until 12 seconds out we looked like we would lose, but I never lost faith. I knew the cash was ours, and I kept calm. Two pushbacks later and the Chase was over. We ended up 4 steps ahead and £20,000 each better off.

Because of The Secret the lives of three people have changed; My team mates got a life-changing amount of cash but for me the Chase was about so much more than that. It was life-changing because I know I can achieve the impossible dream, that I don’t need to say no to things but to shout “Hell, Yeah!” to life. And I know, especially now I can go public, now the episode has been broadcast, that I can achieve good things for my family and life. I want to be so much more than ‘just’ a Mum or a Teaching Assistant or a woman. I want to be able to tell other fat, middle aged women who may be feeling useless (Hello! me from 4 years ago) that they are powerful, and brave and beautiful. And that makes me smile.