He risked ending up with just £250 — but Dale Speight’s boldness paid off when he scooped £100,000 on a TV gameshow.

The 20-year-old, from Unsworth, proved the “real deal” when he resisted the temptation to accept a crunch offer of £26,000 on Noel Edmond’s Channel Four show, Deal Or No Deal.

But the former Holy Cross College student had to put his public celebrations on hold and remain tight-lipped about the huge win until the programme aired last Wednesday afternoon.

His parents Kevin and Julie Speight, from Whitefield, held a party at the Bay Horse pub, Unsworth, to watch the show when it was screened.

Dale, who has cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair since childhood, said: “It was really hard to keep it a secret but I was sworn to secrecy and it’s such a great show, I didn’t want to spoil that big moment. It’s just mind-blowing when you see that amount of money in your bank account. I just had to keep my feet on the ground and invest it because it’s such a springboard into adulthood, I didn’t want to throw it away.”

Deal Or No Deal, which has become big hit since it first broadcast in October 2005, is a game of chance which sees contestants win prizes ranging between 1p and £250,000 by opening 22 identical sealed red boxes.

At the end of the game, Dale was left with two unopened boxes containing £250 and £100,000. The banker offered him £26,000 but Dale said “no deal” before opening his box to reveal the huge sum.

He said: “I would have kicked myself if I hadn’t gone for it and I was always telling the other contestants to go for it so I would have felt a hypocrite. My granddad said I would win big and he died in December before he got to see the show.”

Mrs Speight also joined her son on the stage when filming took place in October 2010. The contestants, who had become good friends, were in floods of tears when Dale won the money.

After winning the cash, Dale took his two brothers to New York, bought a house and went to Lanzarote.

Dale, of Sunnybank, is an avid climber and basketball player, having played for Bury’s wheelchair team, the Blue Devils.

He studies business and ICT at Sheffield University and is a former student of Philips High in Whitefield.