A DENTAL nurse from York was “shocked” to make it to the final of a television quiz show, after forgetting she’d applied to take part.

Marie Mercer, from Wheldrake, appeared on yesterday’s edition of The Weakest Link, despite not expecting to make it through the first round.

Marie, 23, said: “It was filmed in July, and I’ve been waiting all this time to see it.

“I saw they were looking for contestants on their website about a year ago, applied, and got a phone call a few months ago after I’d forgotten all about the application.”

Despite host Anne Robinson’s frosty demeanour on the show, Marie said she was surprised at how lightly she got off during filming: “I remember banking quite a lot so the others wouldn’t vote me off.

“Anne was exactly like she is on TV. She had so much ammunition on me from my application, like my love of singing, but seemed to take a shine to me. I think I got away with it, it’s all a bit of a blur though.”

Marie, who works at ADP dental practice in Clifton Moor, ended up in a head-to-head final for a prize of £1,490 in the final round, but lost without correctly answering one of the five questions.

She said: “I could picture the shoes I was going to buy, but it just didn’t happen.

“I was in so much shock that I’d got that far, I didn’t hear the questions. The fact I got that far was better than winning.”

Overall, Marie said she had enjoyed her time and was already looking to put herself forward for other shows: “It was really difficult because you spend all day with all the people. We got on really well all day, and it felt horrible when we had to vote people off.

“I kept apologising to people afterwards, but they were all okay about it.”