Mark Johnson sat in the hot seat on TV show Deal or No Deal and thought it was best to cut and run as the big money started disappearing.

But the 23-year-old from Abingdon, who works at the Citroen Centre, in Grenoble Road, Oxford, is still thanking his lucky stars after an appearance on the Channel 4 quiz show.

Mr Johnson, who was known as MJ, to avoid confusion with another Mark on the show, banked £14,000.

But he is not downhearted because at one stage it looked like he could be heading home with a lot less.

The show offers one contestant the chance to open a series of boxes in the hope of winning a potential £250,000.

A banker offers the competitor a cash deal to end the game and Mr Johnson swapped his box - number 13, which contained £100 - for £14,000.

He said: "It was the best deal I was offered and if I carried on it would have been a lot worse.

"It turned out to be the best possible game for me - things looked incredibly bleak for me right from the start."

Mr Johnson, of Denton Close, plans to use the money to help the family business grow.

He said: "It has been quite a long experience for me, from applying to getting the phone call to come to the auditions, but it has been brilliant. It was just awesome and I'm still in contact with all the contestants."

Mr Johnson applied to appear on the show in October 2006, but did not hear anything until more than a year later, when he was asked to an audition.

He stayed in Bristol for two weeks in February while the quiz show was filmed. Mr Johnson said: "While we were there we stayed in an awesome hotel with all expenses paid.

"It was like some sort of surreal holiday. You had to film three shows a day, which was quite hard work, but awesome fun as well.

"It has definitely been the most exciting experience of my life."

He first appeared on air at the end of last month, as a box opener for other contestants' games, until his appearance earlier this week.