The 1% Club viewers divided over ‘easiest ever’ final question

Three contestants reached the final 1% question on The 1% Club with a share of the £93,000 prize pot at stake — but the puzzle quickly divided viewers.

Some fans watching the ITV show branded the final challenge the “easiest ever”, while others admitted they could not even work out what the question was asking.

A final puzzle based on left and right

All three contestants chose to tackle the final question rather than leave with a smaller amount of money.

Hosted by comedian Lee Mack, the puzzle showed a diagram and instructed players: “Beginning at the START each time, LLL=A and RRR = H.”

They were then asked:

“What word is represented by the following LLR, LLL, LRR, RRL, RRL.”

The letters represented directions through the diagram, with L standing for left and R for right. Starting from the designated point each time, contestants had to follow the sequence of directions to reach the corresponding letters.

Following the paths produced the word “BADGE.” All three contestants managed to find the correct answer.

Viewers could not agree on the difficulty

The puzzle prompted an immediate reaction online.

One viewer described it as “the easiest 1% question ever!”, while another said they thought the 1% question was even easier than the 5% question from the same episode.

But the reaction was far from unanimous.

Another viewer admitted: “Didn’t even understand the 1% question never mind the answer.” Discussion on Digital Spy showed a similar split, with some viewers quickly arriving at “BADGE” while others said they had no idea how to approach the puzzle.

The solution was essentially a matter of tracing each L/R sequence from the “START” through the diagram. For example, LLR leads to the letter B, while LLL leads to A, with the remaining sequences producing D, G and E.

All three contestants share £31,000

With all three players answering correctly, the £93,000 prize was divided equally, giving each contestant £31,000.

Lee Mack also joked with one of the winners, who was a vicar, telling him: “I would, of course, like to remind our vicar that money cannot buy you happiness.”

The contestant replied: “No, but it can buy you a better class of sadness.”

Unlike traditional quiz shows, The 1% Club does not rely on general knowledge. The format begins with 100 contestants and gradually eliminates players through questions designed to test reasoning, logic and common sense.

The final 1% question is intended to challenge the smallest group of players — making the contrasting reactions to this particular puzzle all the more striking.

The 1% Club continues on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.