Ada Barnes

Ada Barnes (born 1913 from Maldon, Essex, UK) is the oldest person ever to be a contestant on the British game show 'Deal or No Deal', hosted by Noel Edmunds. It is believed (although not verified) that Barnes is the oldest person ever to be a contestant on a British game show.

Barnes appeared on the show on 20th October 2008. After a poor start to the game (she eliminated the £35000, £50000 and £75000 boxes in the first round) she found that box number 6 contained the £250,000 prize which she eliminated in round 4 of the game. She then refused to accept the ‘Bankers’ previous offers of £4,000 and £8,000. In the last round the Banker offered Barnes a deal – if she went on to the final round and didn’t find the £100,000 box, he guaranteed the next offer would be £30,000. Barnes refused the offer and dealt at £10000. This turned out to be a bad decision as she failed to eliminate the £100,000 box in the final round and was offered £33,000.

Her own box, number 4, contained the £100,000 money. She called herself "stupid" for dealing at £10,000.

Barnes was supported by her granddaughter during the show.

During the show Barnes announced that she had not seen a doctor in 10 years despite her age of 95 years, and attributed it to “a plate of porridge in the morning and a small sherry in the evening”.