Cool Caine able to walk off with £72k

An A-level student from a village near Wolverhampton has beaten the banker to walk away from hit Channel 4 game show Deal or No Deal with £72,000.

It looked as though Caine Smalling could become the show's first ever male £250,000 winner when he was left with a fiver and a quarter of a million pounds in his last two boxes.

But the 19-year-old from Featherstone found the banker's offer of £72,000 too tempting to refuse.

And it proved to be a wise move when it was later revealed the unlucky-for-some box number 13 he brought to the table actually contained just £5.

Caine, who gives motivational talks to younger students, said he would spend the cash sensibly and would help pay off his mother's mortgage.

"I was going to go on and train to be a teacher anyway so I'm not going to spend the money on anything I was already going to do," he said.

Host Noel Edmonds said Caine had a "special quality" about him.

Noel added: "I think that hopefully means you will spend the money wisely, but I think it will also ensure that Caine has a very successful life going forward."

Caine, a popular Cheslyn Hay Sport and Community High School pupil who was part of a school production of Grease,. was also praised by other contestants for being a credit to today's teenagers.

Caine's mother Benita watched from the audience as Caine took out blue box after blue box.

His first round began well with just one red box- £10,000- being taken out, followed by £500, the dreaded 1p, £250 and 50p.

His first offer was a respectable £10,041 which Caine turned down.The second round saw the teenager take out the £75,000 as well as £1,000 and 10p, leading to an offer of £12,5000, which the courageous teenager again refused. Caine's third round was a resounding success when he eliminated the £5,000, £3,000 and £1.

But an offer of £22,500 was not enough to tempt the Staffordshire teenager into a deal.

Despite taking out the £100,000 in the next round, he still got an offer of £33,000 which he admitted was "tempting".

Taking the brave decision to carry on, Caine eliminated £50,000, £20,000 and £100, leaving him with just £5 and £250,000.

When the banker offered him £72,000, after a quick glance over at his mother, he was quick to say "deal", before he was swamped by fellow contestants rushing to congratulate him.