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A Deal or No Deal player has opened up about her experience on the hit programme fronted by Stephen Mulhern. Friday's instalment will feature content creator Helen McPherson going against the banker, in the hope of winning up to £100,000.

After feeling "physical unwell" while watching other contestants' rounds unfold on screen, the Kent-based participant confessed her anxiety was building ahead of seeing her episode.

Looking back on her studio experience, Helen shared what surprised her about the show she loves.

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Discussing Stephen, the mum-of-two revealed she didn't expect him to be the way he was throughout the three recordings filmed daily.

An admirer of the host, the player, who has an impressive 106,000 TikTok followers, confessed she felt "really nervous and a bit starstruck".

She told us: "I think I come across a bit dizzy on it, because I'm looking at him and I'm like, 'Oh my God that is Stephen Mulhern'.

"But then towards the end, I do remember digging my fingernails into his arm so hard, it was like I was giving birth and he was like my husband. It was bonkers," she chuckled.

Helen quickly discovered her concerns were unfounded though, as she described Stephen as "so lovely".

"He is the ultimate professional, but I didn't expect him to be so kind and generous with his time," she revealed. "Like, he would make an effort to talk to us all and he remembered details that I told him about my son, like what a big fan he was of him.

"He would just remember stuff and I just thought, b****y hell. Like, you don't have to do that.

"I thought he'd just be whisked in at the last minute, do it and then go but actually [he wasn't]."

She continued: "He puts everybody at ease, when you do the first game, everyone is so nervous, it's funny, he goes, 'At the end of the day if you mess up, we'll just film it again, don't worry'."

Helen also spoke of a touching moment when Stephen comforted her off-camera following her game.

"Afterwards, I was a bit of a mess and then I was like crying loads and he came and gave me a cuddle and he was looking at me, you can just see [it's genuine], because you can't fake that.

"He actually really does care about everybody," she remarked.

Discussing what else took her by surprise about switching from viewer to participant, Helen spoke of the lasting bonds she'd formed with fellow competitors.

Before taking part, she confessed she found it "cringy" when contestants got emotional with each other, but now completely understands why.

"I've realised that it is a little bit like Big Brother because you're sort of thrown into this amazing hotel with these people and you're sort of hanging out with them all this time," she said. "It looks a bit silly on the tele like, 'Come on love, you joined yesterday, how can you possibly be loving these people?'

"But you realise when you're there, this is genuine. Because so many people say, 'Do they tell you to say nice things when you open the box?', but they don't at all.

"You feel so invested, you feel like you're on an emotional rollercoaster, it is quite tense."

Deal or No Deal airs weekdays at 4pm on ITV and ITVX.