A BRAINY couple tested their general knowledge on a TV quiz show - and walked away with the prize worth more than £5,000.

Former Hermitage Academy pupil Noel Kelso and wife, Sarah Trevarthen, appeared on an episode of the BBC’s Pointless, which was broadcast on Tuesday, January 19.

Noel, who lived in Helensburgh for around a decade but now stays in Manchester, having moved away from the town in 1996, said he and Sarah had been big fans of the series for a long time before plucking up the courage to apply to become contestants.

And that decision paid off for the pair who made it all the way to the final, where they claimed the £5,250 jackpot - and a “coveted” Pointless trophy each.

Noel told the Advertiser: “The episode was filmed last January in pre-Covid times.

“It took a while for us to hear back and then they invited us in for an audition, because they have a whole load of people to pick through to see how they act with a bunch of other contestants and how broad their knowledge is.

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“It was great fun. It could’ve been very, very dull - there was a lot of sitting around because you don’t know who is going to go on and when - but all the crew were very helpful and made sure we were comfortable.

“We were quite nervous but mostly excited, it was just a bit of fun and something a bit different.

“You always go in with hopes of winning, but it depended on the topics that were chosen. We were very fortunate.”

Despite admitting that he is “terrible” at sports questions, Noel gave a Pointless answer - the most obscure answer to a variety of general knowledge questions which have also been presented to a survey of 100 people - when faced with a category involving tennis players.

Sarah also stepped up to give a Pointless answer in the same round, adding another £250 to the pot, before the final round.

“The last question was on Nobel Prize winners and we thought that was good,” Noel said, “and then we saw the three sub-categories.

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“It was a lot more specific. Not only did you have to name the winners of the prize in chemistry, physics or medicine, but their surname had to begin with N, O, B, E or L.

“It was very much Sarah who came up with the winning answer!”

And how are they planning on spending their winnings?

“It’s already gone,” Noel revealed.

“We said on the show that we wanted a new kitchen but that was going to be too disruptive and by the time the money arrived in the account we were in lockdown, so it eventually got spent on a new boiler, how exciting, and a sofa, which is yet to arrive.”

The full episode - 31 of season 24 - can be watched on BBC iPlayer.

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