A father who went on Tipping Point to win prize money for IVF treatment has revealed he and his wife have welcomed triplets.
Jamie and Hayley McEvoy, both 30, applied to their favourite game show in a bid to raise money for privately-funded fertility treatment.
Thanks to his impressive film knowledge, Mr McEvoy made it through to the final of the ITV show – hosted by Ben Shephard – and although he missed out on the £10,000 jackpot he still walked away with £3,000.
And the IVF treatment was not only successful but resulted in Mrs McEvoy giving birth to three healthy babies: Nova, a girl, and boys Billy and Jasper.
A dad who went on TV’s Tipping Point to win some money for IVF treatment hit the jackpot after his wife gave birth to triplets.
Jamie and Hayley McEvoy couldn’t afford in their bid to give their son Otis a brother or sister so applied to go on their favourite game show.
Mr McEvoy made it through and recorded the episode with host Ben Shephard, which was broadcast last week.
The couple had been successful with IVF when they had Otis in 2022 and spent all of the winnings on another round for the chance to have a second child.
Jamie and Hayley McEvoy, have welcomed triplets after paying for IVF treatment
Jamie appeared as a contestant on Tipping Point to win the money to pay for the treatment
The treatment was not only successful but resulted in Hayley falling pregnant with triplets.
After overcoming the initial shock, Jamie and Hayley, both aged 30, were told they had a decision to make, as the babies risked being born premature or with defects.
The family was offered the chance to abort one of the triplets to give the twins a better chance of survival, which they decided against.
Fortunately, Hayley got through her pregnancy with no issues and gave birth to three healthy babies in June last year.
With the size of their family doubling overnight, the couple have had to move into a five-bedroom house in Buckshaw Village, near Chorley in Lancashire and buy a bigger car.
The couple said they are grateful to the show for giving them the opportunity to have their triplets.
Mr McEvoy, an admissions administrator at Manchester University, said he found out on the morning before filming that their latest attempt at IVF had failed, and he knew that they could not afford another round without the prize money.
He added: ‘I won £3,000, which was enough to be able to afford another round of IVF.
‘If we hadn’t won that money, we wouldn’t have had the triplets. It was a real turning point for our family.’
He filmed the show in May 2023, but it was only broadcast for the first time last week.
After it aired, Ben Shephard shared the family’s story on X, celebrating the ‘first Tipping Point Triplets
He wrote: ‘So if you saw #tippingpoint @ITV today you might have seen Jamie talk about using any winnings for IVF with Hayley to give Otis their son a little bro or sis.
‘Well they hit the jackpot with our first Tipping Point Triplets Nova Jasper and Billy Not sure it gets much better.’
The triplets are now nine-months-old and are doing well, even though Mr McEvoy admitted that he and Mrs McEvoy have barely slept for six months.
The couple welcomed three healthy babies: Nova, a girl, and boys Billy and Jasper
‘They are doing really well, but it is incredibly difficult,’ he added. ‘We thought having one was hard enough.
‘We are managing to get some sleep now. The first six months we were getting no more than two hours sleep at night.
‘We have had to move to a five-bedroom house, having two babies in one room, they just keep waking each other up all of the time.’
Jamie and Hayley had their first born child through IVF treatment provided by the NHS, but said they would have to pay for any further rounds to try and give birth to a sibling for Otis.
He said:’We started watching Tipping Point during the Covid lockdown and Hayley applied for me to go on the show when we were thinking about having a second child.
‘We knew we couldn’t afford the IVF on our own and so we were hoping to win some money to do it.
‘Luckily, I got through to the final. I remember getting very flustered on a politics question, but there were quite a few film questions which I’m quite good at.
‘I was very close to winning the £10,000 jackpot but was happy to win the £3,000.’
They bided their time and had the second round of IVF treatment in 2024.
Mr McEvoy admitted that he and Hayley have barely slept for six months as they raise three young babies at once
Mr McEvoy added: ‘Hayley took a home pregnancy test and got a positive result.
‘When she went for the scan to confirm the pregnancy, I had already booked to go away to Scotland with my dad for the weekend. We thought it was just a formality, so I didn’t really need to be there.
‘But she found out there we were having triplets. She was terrified but didn’t tell me untilI got home a couple of days later.
‘It was quite a shock and we were both scared.
‘Then we were told the success rate of triplets wasn’t great and we had to consider whether to abort one to give the other two a better chance but that didn’t enter our minds.
‘Hayley was just so positive throughout the pregnancy and made it to 35 weeks, which is really good for triplets. They were all born healthy with no issues.
‘We are very lucky.’
Mr McEvoy said he turned on the TV for his episode of Tipping Point last week, but then had to change channel so Otis could watch the children’s TV show Bluey. He later watched it on catch-up.
