"I was very proud to hand his winnings over to him" - Paddy McGuinness pulls pint in pub with Wigan local

From 1st May until 22nd May, weekly quizzes took place in over 200 Marston’s pubs across the UK, with one site each week being crowned as the Smartest Pub in the UK. The brainiest pubs each won £1,000 from Marston’s Charitable Foundation, to donate to a local cause or project they cared about.

The Green Lady in Caerphilly, Wales, took the title of Smartest Pub in the first week of the quiz and The Black Diamond in Worksop, East Midlands, won the title of smartest pub in the final week of the quiz.

However, it was Andy Taylor from Wigan who won the overall prize.

Paddy presented Andy Taylor with his £5,000 cash prize. Andy played Marston’s Big Pub Quiz each week at his local, the Red Lion in Parbold in Wigan.

Paddy McGuinness, said: “Any afternoon spent in the pub is a good one, but this one was even more special. It was fantastic to meet the teams from the smartest pubs and their chosen charities and hear all about the amazing work they’re doing in their communities.”

He said: “I also presented Andy Taylor, the overall winner of the quiz, with the grand prize. Andy is from Wigan, which is just down the road from me, so I was very proud to hand his winnings over to him.”

Adding: “Pubs really are at the heart of their communities, and I grew up in them with my family, so it has been an absolute pleasure to be involved and play a part in bringing people together for Marston’s Big Pub Quiz.”

Claire Robertson, Director of Operations at Marston’s, said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many people head down to their locals and get involved in the Big Pub Quiz over the last couple of months. Getting all of our winners together in one place to celebrate was really important to us and we’re delighted that they got the chance to meet Paddy and be congratulated in person.”

Adding: “Each of our smartest pubs have picked brilliant community projects to donate their winnings to, and we’re very proud that we’re able to support them through the Marston’s Charitable Foundation.”

To find your nearest pub, visit: www.marstonspubs.co.uk