AITA for lying about my biggest fear on a quiz show and subsequently winning a car and making other contestants lose?

A Reddit user shared a story about participating in a local quiz show and lying about their biggest fear to win a car. The challenge involved facing fears in a clear box room, and the user deliberately listed things they weren’t afraid of—like spiders and cockroaches—while keeping their actual fear a secret.

When faced with the cockroach challenge, the user passed with ease, while others failed. After winning the car, the user sold it for a profit. Now, their family is divided—some believe the user cheated, while others think the other contestants should’ve been more strategic. Was this ethical or just smart gameplay? Read the full story below!

‘ AITA for lying about my biggest fear on a quiz show and subsequently winning a car and making other contestants lose?’

This is a hot topic in my family at the moment, I live on an obscure little island near the UK. we have a local quiz show that’s aired on the telly that I appeared on a few years ago.

The premise of the show is that you can win prizes for doing challenges. Some of the challenges were physical, some psychological, and some requiring problem solving skills. I sailed through a lot of the physical part because I wasn’t a fat b**tard back then, and the problem solving skills required a lot of maths which is my career, so I was ok there.

As for the psychological part, you had to enter a clear box ‘room’ filled with something you’re terrified of, and search through to find clues to the next part. I thought of a believable lie before I entered the show (we had to list 5 things we were afraid of) and I put down all the things I’m *not* scared of.

I listed spiders, cockroaches, snakes, scorpions, and wood lice. I literally couldn’t care less about any of these creatures. I grew up in rural landscape and I’ve had to pretty much deal with creepy crawlies my entire life so it’s not an issue. My actual fear is a bit more obscure and I really honestly knew I’d fail if I was put in a room with it.

When I entered the room there were cockroaches *everywhere* I was in my boxers and barefoot (which was incredibly gross I can’t lie) and had to sift through and move the cockroaches to find clues for my next challenge.

I did it in the time period ascribed to me and got through to the next part. The rest of the contestants failed. Now, I won a pretty average car which I didn’t particularly want, so as soon as I legally could I sold it and made a nice profit since it was pretty much brand new and bought myself a rather nicer car.

I told my family this recently on a drunken night when we were all at a get together, and although everybody found it uproariously funny, my family are split into 2 camps- some people think I cheated and was ethically and morally wrong, and other people think the other contestants deserved to lose if they listed their *actual* fears. I’m obviously in the latter category, but genuinely wondering what others think.

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

Cheeriodarlin −  NAH. The TV producers are producing entertainment. You provided entertainment. Sucks that people lost, but its a windfall, not an entitlement.

ProfNo −  NTA shows like that are all about how entertaining you make it and someone needs to win. Did you make it entertaining? Probably. Honestly I bet even the show itself wouldn’t care after the fact

pamela271 −  NTA. In any game, strategy is key. Planning ahead is an important part winning. I look at it as you were simply being strategic.

[Reddit User] −  NAH. You played the game. It’s not your fault nobody else had the idea.

scelestus66 −  YTA. Smart, but YTA. The whole point of the game is that everyone is honest about their fears, otherwise the whole premise is worthless and it simply becomes a test of who can find a hidden thing fastest. Cheating is wrong and you cheated.

showmethepokemon −  This is probably gonna be split into 2 different camps on here too. I’m gonna say NTA. No one was hurt as a result of your actions. Slightly underhanded, yes. But one could also argue you were just being crafty and playing to win. Depends where your moral compass lies. Just out of curiosity, did it happen to say anything like ‘you must tell the truth on this form blah blah’

philmcruch −  NTA im sure most of the contestants didn’t give their real fears, most game shows aren’t actually how they seem and im sure this one was no exception, you still had to do something pretty gross to win the car. i have to ask though, what is your REAL fear? im curious. and did you at least ACT like you were scared of the cockroaches?

BabyGirlRages −  Personally i’d say YTA. You cheated the game and that wasn’t fair to the other contestants.

xWoIf −  NAH. I am highly inclined towards saying YTA because I agree that it’s cheating and morally questionable but it’s a reality show and you were told to list your fears KNOWING full well what they would do with that information.

That is a very flimsy setup at best and I don’t doubt a lot of people provide false information too in that sense. I doubt you’re walking into a den of full-hearted, honest to goodness participants there, so no… I guess I feel your actions are somewhat fair game even if underhanded.

hoppynhappy −  I dont really know if I have a judgement, but the line about the other contestants “deserving to lose” because they didn’t lie bothers me a lot.

Do you think the user was morally wrong for lying about their fears, or did they play the game fairly by outsmarting the competition? How would you handle a situation like this in a competitive setting? Share your thoughts in the comments below!