Derren Brown appeared to make history last night by successfully predicting the numbers of the National Lottery.
The illusionist seemingly wrote down the six winning balls of the Midweek Lotto Draw hours before they were randomly chosen by the machine.
He had written down his predictions on six white balls earlier in the day which were turned back to front from the audience. Derren Brown
Numbers up: Derren Brown makes history by becoming the first person to successfully predict the National Lottery numbers live on air
He then watched the lottery draw on a TV screen and turned round his white balls to reveal they were exactly the same as his own numbers 2,11,23,28,25 and 39.
His incredible feat was broadcast from a small studio live on Channel 4 at the same time as the BBC1 screened its Midweek Lotto programme at 10.35pm dispelling any rumours that the show was prerecorded.
Brown, 38, had been banned from buying a lottery ticket for the 2.4 million jackpot.
He has so far remained tight-lipped on how he did the trick but has promised to reveal all in a separate program to be broadcast tomorrow night.
It is the latest seemingly implausible stunt the illusionist has performed in front of a live audience.
Previous TV shows have seen him apparently play Russian roulette with a gun and contact the dead, while he has also toured the country performing live shows claiming to reads members' of the audience's minds.
Since Brown announced he would be performing the trick earlier this week, the internet has been flooded with various theories speculating how he could achieve the feat.
One rumour suggested that Brown was able to see winning numbers through a link to the BBC draw a few moments before they were broadcast live enabling him to quickly write the correct numbers down before they were broadcast to the audience.
There was also speculation it could have all been been staged for the cameras. Enlarge Derren Brown
Amazing: Derren watches as his numbers come up on the National Lottery draw
Brown admitted that his Russian roulette trick performed in Jersey in 2003 was a hoax as he had not used a live bullet.
Another rumour suggested that an assistant was writing down the correct numbers as the balls were being drawn.
Brown was then able to swap the correct balls with the ones he had previously written on by sleight of hand.
Another slightly more dubious theory speculates that the illusionist has studied the lottery machine and realised that there is a problem that makes certain numbers more probable.
Experts have pointed out that his past stunts involve the same sleight of hand, behind-the-scenes trickery and psychological manipulation.
Magicians remained tight-lipped as to how Brown achieved this particular trick.
Graham Harper, of the Nottingham Guild of Magicians, said he was flummoxed by the 'awesome spectacle'.
He said: 'I sat and watched that with three other magicians and none of us can fathom how he pulled that off. Because it's Derren Brown it was expected, but that doesn't detract from the skill.'
Mr Harper ruled out sleight of hand, distraction or TV wizardry. He added: 'This will shock the world of magic.'
Jack Delvin, president of the Magic Circle, said: 'If I did know how he did it, I would not be able to say because the first rule of the Magic Circle is not to tell your secrets. I would be shot, hung, drawn and quartered.
'Derren Brown is not a member of the Magic Circle. We invited him to join but he declined saying that he was not a magician but an illusionist.
'I wish him all the best in all his tricks.'
Before the show, Brown said: 'I realise there are a lot of questions this brings up, and I hope they'll be answered on the Friday night show,
'For now, I'm really excited and really nervous and cannot tell you for sure how well it will work.'
Camelot, the lottery operator, said that Brown's trick would not interfere with the results.
Before the show a spokesman said: 'It is impossible to affect the outcome of the draw and Derren Brown is not suggesting he is doing this.
'Derren Brown is an illusionist creating an illusion that he can predict the numbers. We wish Derren, but more importantly our players, the best of luck.
The illusionist seemingly wrote down the six winning balls of the Midweek Lotto Draw hours before they were randomly chosen by the machine.
He had written down his predictions on six white balls earlier in the day which were turned back to front from the audience. Derren Brown
Numbers up: Derren Brown makes history by becoming the first person to successfully predict the National Lottery numbers live on air
He then watched the lottery draw on a TV screen and turned round his white balls to reveal they were exactly the same as his own numbers 2,11,23,28,25 and 39.
His incredible feat was broadcast from a small studio live on Channel 4 at the same time as the BBC1 screened its Midweek Lotto programme at 10.35pm dispelling any rumours that the show was prerecorded.
Brown, 38, had been banned from buying a lottery ticket for the 2.4 million jackpot.
He has so far remained tight-lipped on how he did the trick but has promised to reveal all in a separate program to be broadcast tomorrow night.
It is the latest seemingly implausible stunt the illusionist has performed in front of a live audience.
Previous TV shows have seen him apparently play Russian roulette with a gun and contact the dead, while he has also toured the country performing live shows claiming to reads members' of the audience's minds.
Since Brown announced he would be performing the trick earlier this week, the internet has been flooded with various theories speculating how he could achieve the feat.
One rumour suggested that Brown was able to see winning numbers through a link to the BBC draw a few moments before they were broadcast live enabling him to quickly write the correct numbers down before they were broadcast to the audience.
There was also speculation it could have all been been staged for the cameras. Enlarge Derren Brown
Amazing: Derren watches as his numbers come up on the National Lottery draw
Brown admitted that his Russian roulette trick performed in Jersey in 2003 was a hoax as he had not used a live bullet.
Another rumour suggested that an assistant was writing down the correct numbers as the balls were being drawn.
Brown was then able to swap the correct balls with the ones he had previously written on by sleight of hand.
Another slightly more dubious theory speculates that the illusionist has studied the lottery machine and realised that there is a problem that makes certain numbers more probable.
Experts have pointed out that his past stunts involve the same sleight of hand, behind-the-scenes trickery and psychological manipulation.
Magicians remained tight-lipped as to how Brown achieved this particular trick.
Graham Harper, of the Nottingham Guild of Magicians, said he was flummoxed by the 'awesome spectacle'.
He said: 'I sat and watched that with three other magicians and none of us can fathom how he pulled that off. Because it's Derren Brown it was expected, but that doesn't detract from the skill.'
Mr Harper ruled out sleight of hand, distraction or TV wizardry. He added: 'This will shock the world of magic.'
Jack Delvin, president of the Magic Circle, said: 'If I did know how he did it, I would not be able to say because the first rule of the Magic Circle is not to tell your secrets. I would be shot, hung, drawn and quartered.
'Derren Brown is not a member of the Magic Circle. We invited him to join but he declined saying that he was not a magician but an illusionist.
'I wish him all the best in all his tricks.'
Before the show, Brown said: 'I realise there are a lot of questions this brings up, and I hope they'll be answered on the Friday night show,
'For now, I'm really excited and really nervous and cannot tell you for sure how well it will work.'
Camelot, the lottery operator, said that Brown's trick would not interfere with the results.
Before the show a spokesman said: 'It is impossible to affect the outcome of the draw and Derren Brown is not suggesting he is doing this.
'Derren Brown is an illusionist creating an illusion that he can predict the numbers. We wish Derren, but more importantly our players, the best of luck.
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