Bridge of Lies - Why do contestants do this?

[IfYouPutASausageInItItsNotAViennetta]

Our family all love Bridge of Lies (gameshow hosted by Ross Kemp) - it's an enjoyable format and the categories and questions are quite varied and mostly really interesting...but there are two things in particular that contestants do, that have us all shouting at them angrily from our living room.

Firstly, when they are certain of an answer, but don't step on it. There will be two or three steps around them and they will say "Those are all definitely true" - but then they will only step on one of them, rather than taking all of them. They're the equivalent of two £50 notes on the floor (or four for the last round) and all you have to do is step on them to effectively pick them up and pocket the cash for your jackpot! We've seen loads of episodes and there have maybe been one or two people at most who have taken all of the steps of which they're certain.

Secondly, when they 'forget' to press the panic button when it was very clearly needed. I get that some people are selfish and hope to let the earlier players fall by the wayside in order to keep it to get themselves through; but when the button remains unused and the third player is out there, and they get into difficulty... but the fourth player "doesn't think" to press that gigantic red button that's on the table right in front of them. We just saw an episode where, not for the first time, the third player had a horrible question and did appallingly. The fourth player didn't bother to press the button and they subsequently gave up half of their jackpot in order to completely unnecessarily (with a tiny bit of common sense) buy her back again. Once more, it's like hundreds of pounds are sitting there for you to just help yourself to and take, but they simply aren't interested and want to lose a lot of money!

Are there any other fans out there; and/or anybody else who gets as irritated as I do by these or anything else on the show?!

They waver over the answers then go for the wrong one E.g.If the "truths" are birds and lies are not birds

"I've heard of a duck and I think it's a bird but I'm not sure. I've never heard of a cockatrice.... hmm...duck...or cockatrice".

Ross says "Go with your gut"

Then they stand on fucking cockatrice. Yeah, stand on the one you've never heard of rather than the one you have and think is right. Fuckwits.

If in the final the choices on one row are:

"Middlemarch was written by Jane Austen" (F)
"Gary Numan is younger than Gary Oldman" (F)
"Emus are native to Australia" (T)

The other team members will be saying "I'm pretty sure Middlemarch was George Eliot", "I've been to Australia and seen Emus, so I think that's right"

Player on the bridge will completely ignore them and say "I've no idea about Gary Numan/Oldman" then jump on it anyway.

FFS, if you've no idea, at least listen to your team who do. Grr!

Edited: Oldman, not Oldham.

I hate how they dither so much. I assume they are told to " show their workings" but if they got a wriggle on when they are sure of an answer, they'd have a lot more time left.

And Ross wouldn't have to keep repeating "Don't forget, we're looking for types of poultry".

I love a bit of Bridge of Lies! Agree with all you are saying although I do think they probably have to give commentary and must be coached to get through to the safety zome maybe before stepping on ones they know as well as ones to open more clues. I'd love to hear from anyone who has been on the show as well!
Some categories are so easy I know all the answers - 90s films was one recently - I knew every one! Also, there was a book one that was pretty easy as well. I think I'd either do really well or go out quickly if it was a dud round.

Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd, so I reckon I would have got every single truth in the postcode areas round!

That bands round recently, with bands whose names start with 'The' was evil!

One other thing I don't get is why the BBC often use a thumbnail on iPlayer showing the players who got through to the final round and, sometimes, even the total they're playing for. Pointless spoiler. Why don't they just show a still of the team in the waiting room before they start?

Me too! Love it, in our house we take a category each.

It can be infuriating though. Really annoying when the last player doesn’t press the panic button for the third player who’s clearly struggling, and then the team lose half their money to buy that player back in the final bit!

I also hate when they are next to the button where they can pause (sorry forgotten what it’s called) but stay on the one next to it and stand there looking around and let time tick away. Aaaarrgghhh!

I say all this but I bet I’d probably do the same if I was on it!

I suppose, to be a bit fair, it must be easier for us at home to see the whole bridge than it is for the contestant standing on it.

Even so, how you can 'forget' to press that big red button that's right in front of you?!?!

Where do they GET these people? I think there is definitely a screening process here - sorry, you're too clever, we suggest Pointless or Only Connect?

I mean. If you asked me my top 10 quiz categories sport wouldn't be there, but even I know Simone Biles is a gymnast and Duncan Goodhew is a fucking swimmer.

Do they actually have female F1 drivers? If not, surely that must be a clue not to guess at a woman's name, even if you don't know who she is?

I'm not a fan in any way - and there's no reason why women couldn't compete - but I've never heard of any ever being mentioned.

I'm remembering wonderful Sabine Schmitz now - was she an F1 driver, though?

I love how the question of T or F has nothing really to do with the category !

The other day the topic was French but the actual question was Ballet terms !!

Luckily he was a dancer !
But I doubt a non dancer who just happened to have passed GCSE French some years ago would have had much chance !!

I don't mind a bit of BOL but the three things that do me in are:

When they know more than one answer is definitely correct but don't step on both of them and extend their prize money.

When they buy a player back and half the prize fund. So you've won £1,600 but you'll now play for £800. Seriously £200 each really worth it? Depending where they're from it might just about cover their fare to Glasgow.

The fannying about during the final round when the wave is inches away. JUST STEP ON ONE.

Just this last week, four players going first were clearly about to crash out - and not one of the teams thought to use the panic button.

The other team of the five used it for the first player who would have got through, albeit she had had two lies. In using the PB, they lost £400 from her earnings and then, when the second player unavoidably crashed out, there was obviously no PB left to rescue them.

Unless it's the third player, it's really foolish to waste the PB on (hopefully) saving a player from losing a few hundred quid, if that them means you completely lose a later player. They invariably give up half of their jackpot to buy back the defeated player - which is always a lot more than the few hundred they saved for the one who got through anyway.

The other thing that we're always amazed about is that nobody ever seems to realise that the positioning of the steps can also give away one that must be true.

Specifically, you will never get both steps in front of and immediately to the side of a safety zone being lies.

Also, if there is a lie on the very first row, the whole second row must be true.

Moreover, not always but more often than not, the middle step in the row before the final 50/50 row will have to be a truth - definitely if the one to the left or right of it is a lie - otherwise you wouldn’t be able to get to both of the final two steps.

Agree about them not stepping on all the truths when they know they are true ..🤯 !

Thinking about it ...
It is quite a stressful game for tea time TV !! 🤔🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣

It’s very messy quiz show and I hate how RK says ‘ that opens up ‘ in the same monotone voice.

What gets me is when he keeps reminding them that they don't want to half their money now ... continuously!!

I still record and watch every episode though ! 😀.

The way the contestants take forever to answer the question..... I'm yelling at the TV saying move for f sake 🤣🤣

So there are a lot of us watching it with raised blood pressure then ?! !! 🤣🤣

Watching the celebrity one now. Faye has stepped on 2 adjacent lies, chances are that the one next to them is a truth but she avoided it. (Always more truths than lies on the board).

Saying that, celebrity versions of quizzes are always easier than the Joe Public versions (see Pointless).

That Retriever question was so unfair.

Things that contain "gold" or "silver".

The most popular breed of retriever in the UK.

She stepped on it, obviously thinking Golden Retriever,

Bong!

Ross: "So sorry, it's the Labrador"

I've heard of Golden Labradors. I may be pedantic but I thought that was really unfair.

Yep!

What is it that possesses so many of them, in the final round, to discuss and agree that one option MUST be a lie... and then, at the last moment, to go and jump on it?!

Do they think that the rules are that you either step on the truths or you step on the lies?! If that were true, what on earth would be the point in even playing the game?

I totally agree with you - especially when the round is called 'Words'.

There IS a well-known dog breed called a golden retriever; and Spandau Ballet DID have a very famous hit called Gold - they seem designed to force you to fail through no fault of your own.

I'm still amazed that a DJ hadn't heard of Fields Of Gold by Sting; and that somebody who has been in the pop music industry for over 4 decades and is Cheryl's age didn't know - even with the prompt of the statement right in front of her - that Neil Diamond wrote and first recorded Red Red Wine!