A Thame mother has expressed her ‘pride’ at seeing her son take part in Channel 4’s Countdown.
Former Lord Williams’s School student David Boyle took part in the show after making it through an arduous selection process and got to meet Apprentice star and host Nick Hewer and co-host Rachel Riley.
Mr Boyle, 20, won his first game but was then was narrowly beaten in the second in a crucial Countdown conundrum in a show which aired last week.
His mother, Sue Boyle, said he has always been a big fan of the show and he was excited to meet the hosts, with impressionist and comedian Jon Culshaw in the dictionary corner.
She said: “When he was younger he had the game for Christmas one year.
“He always loved watching it on TV and he played along at home.”
Though it was a disappointment for the Swansea University student not to progress further, it fulfilled a long-standing ambition to appear of television, and he made the most of it, cheered on by a group of friends.
Ms Boyle said: “When they were doing the conundrum he buzzed in with about a minute to go.
“They asked him what he had and he said ‘absolutely nothing, but it would be a shame to waste the buzzer’.
“He has always wanted to go on the TV and has applied for a couple of other shows.
“He applied for Young Apprentice and Big Brother, but he was really pleased to get on this one.
“From my point of view this is a much better one for him to have gone on.”
Mr Boyle applied for the show several months ago and had to go through an audition and take part in a test game, where he beat eight other hopefuls to get on to the programme.
But despite wanting to go on the show for so long and getting through all the stages, Mr Boyle still had some nerves when it came to the big moment.
Ms Boyle said: “When they were having their make-up done, Rachel [Riley] was in there with them and that made him more relaxed.”