A QUIZ SHOW contestant has put his £500,000 win down to a history lesson at Forest School in Snaresbrook.

Peter Spyrides, 33, who now lives in Brentwood, struck it rich on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire last week.

Despite almost losing it on the £16,000 question, when he had to phone friend to find out that coral was made of polyps, Mr Spryides came through on the £500,000 question.

Using the knowledge of history he gleaned from his time at Forest School, the ex-public school boy put his money where his mouth was.

Mr Spyrides said: "To win the half a million, I was asked who was the only child of Henry the Eighth and Jane Seymour.

"I felt confident that I knew the right answer, having studied that period of history whilst at school.

"I guess that shows that my time there wasn't wasted."

Mr Spyrides used to live in Oliver Road, Walthamstow, with his parents, Petros and Maureen, and attended Forest School until 1986.

Now, along with two old boys in England's cricket squad, the headmaster of Forest School is proud to have a former pupil winning through on the quiz show.

Andrew Boggis, headmaster since 1992, said: "The history department is the jewel in our crown. It's great that an old boy has remembered his lessons so well. Unfortunately I cannot pay the history teacher £500,000."

Even though history classes at Forest School took him to the brink of winning the £1million, Mr Spryides did not fare so well in history exams.

"I only got an E in A-level history," he said. "It was my fault. I didn't really work very hard."

But obviously hard enough to have total recall on Henry the Eighth's offspring 15 years later.

Made redundant four months ago from his job with an investment bank, Mr Spyrides had just got a new job with an energy trading company when Who Wants To Be A Millionaire called inviting him on.

He said: "I was absolutely bewildered when I realised that I had to sit opposite Chris Tarrant in front of the TV cameras.

"I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience and was really nervous.

"I couldn't believe what was happening when I was told that I'd won £500,000. I had to keep pinching myself.

"There was no chance of me going for the million. I knew I didn't know the answer and I wasn't going to gamble."

Mr Spyrides now plans to buy a new house for his wife Catherine and their daughter Emma along with a car.