Tipping Point: Ben Shephard unable to contain laughter as contestant confuses poet Homer with The Simpsons

Ben Shephard was unable to contain his laughter at a hilarious wrong answer given by a Tipping Point contestant.

The incident occurred during Monday’s episode (25 October) of the ITV game show, which is based around a classic penny falls-style arcade game.

One quiz question covered classic Greek literature. Host Ben Shephard asked contestant Dom: “In his epic poems, Homer often refers to the nectar as the drink of the gods and which other substance as their food?”

However, Dom, who is a primary school teacher from Manchester, misunderstood the question, assuming it was referring to Homer from The Simpsons.

“I know he likes doughnuts,” Dom said, with Shephard looking flabbergasted by the answer. “I think I’ll go with doughnuts please, Ben.”

Struggling to hold back laughter, the presenter locked in the answer, before asking fellow contestant Linzi, a marketing manager from Huddersfield, what she would have answered.

“I would have said doughnuts as well, beer and doughnuts,” she said, with Shephard laughing even more before reading the question again.

Dom then realised his mistake, saying: “We’ve got the wrong Homer… It’s not Homer Simpson, it’s the author Homer.”

Their answer turned out to be wrong, with Linzi adding: “I straight away thought Simpson.”

“No it’s not doughnuts, it’s ambrosia,” Shepherd said. “Homer, of course, poet, scholar, bard, philosopher. Not Homer Simpson, who works in a nuclear factory, drinks beer and likes doughnuts. Easy to confuse both Homers.”

The clip was shared widely on social media, with one commenter writing: “This is 27 seconds of remarkable television. Tipping Point, the gift that keeps on giving.”

“Not @TheSimpsons pickling the brains of British quiz show contestants,” another tweet read.

“Genuinely don’t think I’d ever be able to leave the house again,” joked one viewer.

Another Twitter user added: “Ben’s face trying not to react is everything.”