Moment Deal or No Deal host screams ‘don’t touch it’ as box makes history

Deal or No Deal was plunged into chaos during a history-making episode of the Channel 4 game show, back in its original run with Noel Edmonds as host. Now the show has moved over to ITV and is hosted by Stephen Mulhern – but from 2005 until 2014, it was the Noel’s House Party star at the helm.

Noel was quick to scream “don’t touch it!” as one player opened her red box at the whim of contestant David, who was in the hot seat to fight for the grand £250,000 prize. David went to Kirsty, with box number two, to try and eradicate the pesky penny that remained in the game – but when she opened the box, it was completely empty, with no cash amount inside.

Noel ran over to her, shouting: “Hold it, don’t touch it, don’t- Don’t touch it!” David, meanwhile, was in high spirits as he quipped: “Yes, it’s a penny! There isn’t a card in there, actually. An act of God!”

Noel admitted: “[That’s] never ever happened before. Have we got a camera? We have an empty box. There is nothing in there. This is going to take some time.” He bustled behind the scenes to chat to producers as the cast were left reeling – and it was clear the audience wanted to know what was happening too.

David said: “We’re probably going to have to open all the other boxes to see what’s missing!” – but thankfully the show bosses had a cleaner solution. When Noel came back out into the studio, he had two options for the guest.

Noel said: “Firstly, sincere apologies for the disruption to your game, and apologies particularly from the independent adjudicator. We’re never ever had this happen in 707 games, and I think it does underline the fact that there is only one person who does know where the money is.

“This person works alone in a sealed room, so has nobody to help them, check them or ultimately check that every single box was filled. We’re very satisfied that this was a genuine human error.

“However, it is very important that you feel happy with the way in which the game is played from here. We can give you the option, and I’d like you to think very carefully about this. This is serious. Deal or No Deal is a game of great fun, but we never ever forget it is about money.

“We can give you the opportunity to abandon the game and start again, or what we can do is continue the game having taken all of the boxes away, the independent adjudicator will shuffle the sums of money again and we will continue the game. So you still have the opportunity to win all of the sums of money that are still in the game at this moment, including the one I am holding which is what should have been in Kirsty’s box. The choice is very much yours.”

David opted to play on, which made Noel grin as he revealed box number two had stored the £250,000 – which was now back in play, confirming that it was still on the board. With his next move – and all the cash amounts returned to the boxes – David once again went to Kirsty, who this time had £35,000 in her box.

In the end, David – a vicar – scooped £12,500 to donate to his five favourite charities, his church and to keep a little bit back for himself to repair his caravan.