The Inheritance: The Final - interview with Hannah

Cam was named the winner of Channel 4’s The Inheritance. The Yorkshire scaffolder, 28, won the vote amongst his fellow finalists to be the ultimate Prime Beneficiary, receiving a £100,000 fortune from The Deceased’s estate. Faced with the cash, Cam had the option to keep all the winnings for himself but instead, he chose to share the inheritance with Emma, Hafsah, Hannah and Jesse, gifting them £20,000 each to add to their money already banked. Wedding planner Hannah received £28,200.

Interview with Hannah:

What were your first impressions of turning up at the house for the first time, meeting The Executor, and most importantly, meeting your fellow players?
When I pulled up at the house, I was just completely blown away by the grandeur of it. I have never seen anything quite like it. It's pretty intimidating to be from such a small and understated area to then show up at this high society building. Then it was even more intimidating when I met The Executor. I am a really big fan of Rob Rinder, so when I saw who it was, I nearly collapsed with sheer joy. When he plays the role of The Executor, he is so intimidating. You hear his footsteps coming up behind you, and it sends shivers down your spine. 

I felt very overwhelmed between the house and him. Then there were 12 strangers who come from all corners of the UK, who have completely different backgrounds, different social statuses. I come from a very impoverished, very small area of the UK. It's one of the leading areas of food poverty. No one can afford to put their heating on. I feel privileged in that area, because I have a job and I work hard, and we don't struggle. But I see it around me all the time, and I met people throughout this process, who I don't think have ever struggled. I don't come from a very diverse area either. It's very much if you're born there, you're raised there, you stay there, and you marry someone from there. It's just a very tight-knit community I suppose. It was just such a learning curve to meet all these people who are so different to me. But somehow, we made it work, and somehow, we got along really well, for the most part. 

Did you have a strategy, and did you stick to it?
Going in, I did not have a strategy. I had absolutely nothing to go by. All I wanted to do was play a fair game and be nice to everyone; show that maybe you don't need a strategy in these things. But that did change throughout the process.

How did you find the requests?
Every time that we got told about a request, my heart was in my boots because I thought, what in god's name is coming next? Every day they were becoming more obscure, more difficult. But they were always so much more fun than I ever thought they would be. They challenged me beyond what I thought my capabilities were. Looking back, I can say that I did every single request that was thrown at me. I gave it my all and I did things that I never thought I would do, ever. 

Did you learn anything about yourself in the process?
I learned so much about myself throughout this process. I learned that I'm stronger than I thought I was. I am more physically able than I thought I was. I am able to overcome things easier than I thought. I've shown so much resilience that I didn't think I had in me. I've learned that being a good person is fundamental to get you where you need to be in life. By being a good person and by showing fairness and honesty, it got me to where it did. I think it's a really great lesson to learn in life.

Did you think you'd get this far? 
No, I set my sights on not being the first person out. Since getting to this point, I'm actually still in complete shock. I'd set my sights to not be first out, and then I wasn't first out. Then I set my sights to halfway, and then I set myself to three quarters. And when I got to episode nine, I thought I am not going home without being in that final now; I'm not missing a single bit of this experience. 

How did it feel when you got the news that Cam had decided to split the money evenly?
I owe that man a drink. A big one! I was kind of shocked, because you become so suspicious in this game that everyone has ulterior motives. When we were waiting to hear what Cam had done with the money, I had completely convinced myself that he’d fled up the road with it! So, when I heard that he'd split it, I was shocked, but in the best way. I don't know why I ever doubted him. Three weeks ago, I didn't know that man and yesterday he gave me 20 grand. So, I owe him a lot.

Would you have done the same? 
No! Does that sound awful?! Up until episode 10 or 11 I would have been the fairest person in this game, I would have split it equally. But I got knocked back and had setback after setback, and then I actually became a villain in my own story. I basically had decided that these people didn't trust me, they didn't respect me as a player. If the 100,000 pounds was mine, I was taking it. I would have split it with maybe one other person, and that would have been Emma. So, I am just delighted that it was Cam, because I can’t feel guilty about it!

Who did you bond most strongly with? Was it Emma?
Yeah, I had a really strong friendship with Emma, I hope that that can continue. We just got on extremely well. Since day one, we sort of clicked. We were in the first group for the first request together, and literally from that second onwards, she's the only person that consistently backed me and I consistently backed her. 

Do you have a standout highlight of the entire experience? 
Oh, so many. Anything that Ferg does makes me laugh, and he's so unserious. That just shows who he is as a person. There was also another day that we were all arguing over one of the requests, and I think it was about making sausages. I was getting quite upset, and Ferg comes over and he went, ‘Hannah, darling, it's only sausages.’ I was like, do you know what, Ferg? You're right, you just put something into perspective. I think the way Ferg speaks is a highlight for me. 

If you could sum up the experience in three words, what three words would those be? 
Challenging, emotional and unforgettable.