Six contestants compete through six rounds to accumulate money in a prize pot by answering questions. However, they are not told whether any of their answers are correct or incorrect, and the total in the pot is kept secret until after the sixth round. The correct answers and pot total are displayed on-screen for the viewer's benefit, and after every second round, the number of correct answers given by each contestant is also shown. A different category is used for all the questions in each round. Each contestant receives a single question in the first round, and a pair of questions in the second. After the second round, the contestants secretly cast one vote apiece as to whom they want to eliminate from the game. If one contestant receives more votes than all others, they must leave the game with no winnings; if not, all contestants remain active. Questions in the third round are asked on the buzzer, one for every contestant remaining. Each contestant then receives one question in turn during the fourth round, after which a second elimination vote is taken. The fifth and sixth rounds are played identically to the first and second, but no further votes are taken afterward. Correct answers in the first two rounds add £75 to the pot; whenever a contestant is eliminated, the value of all subsequent questions doubles. The maximum potential pot total is £6,450. After the sixth round, the host informs the contestants as to the final prize pot and sends them to a room to discuss which of them is the day's "Great Pretender" – the one who has given the most correct answers. They are allowed to bluff as they see fit. The host calls one contestant at a time back to the stage for a brief private talk and informs each one as to whether or not he/she is the Pretender. After these meetings are complete, he calls all of them to the stage and gives them a final 60 seconds to try and reach a consensus on the Pretender's identity. Once time is up, they each vote and the host publicly reveals the Pretender. If all of the other contestants have chosen correctly, they split the pot equally and the Pretender wins nothing. Otherwise, the Pretender wins the entire pot.
Similar formats
The show's format is similar to that of Ant & Dec's PokerFace, where similarly contestants must bluff each other in order to walk away with the cash jackpot. The main differences between the shows are that in PokerFace, contestants need to bluff other contestants into thinking they're doing well, in order to stay in game and hopefully win the jackpot, whereas in The Great Pretender, contestants' only hope of success is to do the opposite, by bluffing fellow contestants into thinking they're doing poor in order to win the jackpot themselves.
