The contestant dismissed from Who Wants to be a Millionaire? over a controversial answer to the question that got the nation talking says he will return to the show.
Mr Shane O'Doherty said yesterday he was prepared to accept an offer to reinstate him at the £125,000 stage of the quiz, as if his answer to the problematic lunula question had been accepted.
However, he said he would not be returning to the RTE programme like "a pariah back to haunt them . . . I want everything to be conducted with an even hand, free, fair and with a sense of fun."
Tyrone Productions, the company behind the popular Sunday night show, made the offer on Friday. However, the firm continued to insist the correct answer to the question, "Where in the human body is the lunula located?" is "fingernail" rather than "heart", as Mr O'Doherty contended.
The Knocklyon contestant said his case had popular support. "I got this far because of the will of the people. I believe it's the will of the people that I go back in the chair," he said.
Mr O'Doherty thought about the offer over the weekend. He consulted his wife, Patricia, and five children, Leah (16), Kyle (15), Ryan (12), Kane (9) and Kara (8). He said he appreciated that the Tyrone Productions statement wishing him luck in reaching the "magic million".
When told of Mr O'Doherty's imminent return by The Times last night, a spokeswoman for Tyrone Productions said: "Oh good. We hope he comes back."
Ratings for the show are expected to be extremely high on the night Mr O'Doherty returns.
