A MAN scooped £500,000 thanks to a history lesson at Forest School in Walthamstow.

Peter Spyrides, 33, won the money on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after answering a question on a period of history he studied for his exams.

Mr Spyrides was delighted with the win, after only recently being made unemployed.

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

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

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

The headmaster at the school in College Place, Andrew Boggis, is pleased to have an ex-pupil achieve national recognition.

He said: "The history department is the jewel in our crown. It's great that an old boy has remembered his lessons so well.

"It's just a shame that I can't pay the history teacher £500,000."

The gameshow winner used to live in Oliver Road, Walthamstow, with his parents, Petros and Maureen.

He moved to Ilford in 1990 after getting a job with an investment bank in the City and later moved to Brentwood where he now lives with his wife, Catherine, and daughter Emma.

The family fell on hard times in June this year when Mr Spyrides was made redundant.

He had only just got a new job with an energy trading company when he got a call from the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire gameshow.

He said: "When I first got in front of the cameras, I was really nervous and felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.

"I got through the easy questions and phoned a friend when I got stuck on £16,000.

"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.

"But I had to keep pinching myself when I was told that I'd won £500,000."

Mr Spyrides plans to buy a new house and car with the money. Yet he's still going to start his new job and has no holiday plans as yet.

His father said: "He's been sitting around for four months, of course he's going to work.

"But I'm proud of my son. He's a very good boy and I cried with joy when I got the news."