Hello, and welcome to the final instalment of my exclusive interview with Hard Quiz winner Markos Hasiotis, where Markos gives us his top three tips for success on this show. But before we get to that, there was another aspect of Hard Quiz that I wanted to get to the bottom of….

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SH: Part of (host) Tom Gleeson’s schtick is that he repeatedly insults the contestants on Hard Quiz... And yet the contestants often give as good as they get – do you all come up with your own “burns”? Some of them are pretty funny!

MH: We do come up with them ourselves. I suspect that the producers at the auditions look out for people who are somewhat witty and can respond to an insult with a snappy retort, as opposed to stunned silence… or tears!

However, the final two are told to prepare an interesting answer as to what we’ll do with The Big Brass Mug if we win it, so I came up with a Bondian answer: “I’ll drink Vodka martinis out of it, shaken not stirred.”

‘Hard Quiz’s Ultimate prize… THE BIG BRASS MUG!

SH: What are the three most important things you’d tell someone wanting to go on Hard Quiz? The things you wish someone had told you beforehand?

MH: Firstly, I’d definitely recommend that you wait until Tom has finished the question before buzzing in (or at least wait until you’re certain what the question will be). There were a couple of instances where I wrongly assumed what the question would be based on the first few words so I buzzed in and got it wrong, which cost me precious points.

Secondly, try and be somewhat memorable in the audition, whether it’s a funny anecdote or mentioning one of your strange hobbies. I suspect that’s why I wasn’t successful in my first audition, I faded into the background a bit.

… And thirdly, don’t give up, even if things aren’t going your way during the show, just stay focused and calm and you can do it!

SH: Is there anything else about the experience that you’d like to share? Anything I haven’t covered?

MH: I’d like to say, for the record, that Tom is quite a nice guy when the camera is off.

SH: Markos, now that you’ve won Hard Quiz‘s ultimate prize (The Big Brass Mug), do you have any plans to go on any other quiz shows? Millionaire Hot Seat? The Chase Australia?

MH: I’d love to try another quiz show…I’ve auditioned for The Chase Australia and am currently in the “contestant pool”, so I may get on there at some stage. I’ve applied for Hot Seat too, but haven’t heard back and I would’ve loved to have done Pointless, but I couldn’t find a teammate. I’m excited for Australian TV to create some brand new quiz shows in the future and I’ll happily throw my hat into those rings. No rush!

SH: Markos, thank you so much for your time today, and for sharing your thoughts…. And of course, congratulations!

MH: Thank so much. Was a pleasure, Stephen.

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And that’s where we bid a fond farewell to Hard Quiz winner and trivia enthusiast Markos Hasiotis! I hope you found Markos’s story interesting, and picked up a few useful, actionable nuggets of information along the way. Just a reminder, you can follow Markos on Twitter (@FactBuffet) for a daily dose of fascinating facts… I know I do!

I wish Markos all the best with all his future quiz-related endeavours, and I’ll see you back here really soon!