COMPANY director Paul Rawlings has put his reputation and his relationship with his loved ones on the line in a bid to scoop a £50,000 television quiz show jackpot.

The 29-year-old, from West Swindon, appears in the hot seat on Sky One's Nothing But The Truth on Wednesday.

In the game show, hosted by Jerry Springer, contestants are hooked up to a lie detector and asked increasingly personal questions about their life.

They must then answer up to 21 questions again in front of a studio audience, while their partners, closest friends and relatives watch, winning increasingly bigger cash prizes along the way. Just one false answer and they lose everything.

Mr Rawlings, who runs a cleaning business and has two children with Ann, his girlfriend of 11 years, is sworn to secrecy over how well he did until the show is broadcast.

But he said the question he feared most, which was one of those he was asked in the polygraph lie detector test before the programme, was not put to him by Springer.

"I was dreading being asked if I loved my pet Bengal cat, who we call Dangerous Dave, more than Ann, so I was quite relieved that it didn't come up," said Mr Rawlings, whose two sons are aged nine and three.

"It was one of the questions that Ann had given the producers that she really wanted to know the answer to.

"I really love my cat, he's fantastic, but my answer would have been no'.

"The other question I was not looking forward to was whether I had ever cheated on Ann.

"I have done, but it happened about 10 years ago and she already knew about that.

"That wouldn't have been so bad for me, but Ann is quite shy, and having watched the programme before she knew that the cameras would have focused on her instead of me at that point, which she wouldn't have been comfortable with. Thankfully for her, that question did not come up."

He said the lie detector test before the programme was recorded was more nerve-wracking than the show itself.

"That was the worst thing I have ever gone through," he said. "By the time it came to the show itself, I was really confident. My plan was just to keep going and not stop until I reached £50,000.

"It was a great experience and everyone was so friendly and treated us really well. Jerry Springer put me totally at ease and he's a really nice bloke."

  • Nothing But the Truth is on Sky One at 10pm on Wednesday.