The Sussex woman who won £500,000 on hit TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was today reunited with the friend who made her windfall possible.

Mother-of two Kate Heusser, 44, toasted her success with champagne and a surprise hug from Ian Lawes, from Brighton.

Kate telephoned Ian for a crucial answer before scooping the penultimate prize on the ITV game show.

She made it to £64,000 without using a lifeline, then turned to her phone-a-friend lifeline Mr Lawes, a naturalist who immediately knew that a cassowary was a bird.

He said today: "There was no pressure at that minute. The pressure was all beforehand because you have 30 seconds to be told the question and answer it.

"It just goes, you just don't think about it, but afterwards I thought, 'What have I done?'. I just rushed for the dictionary to look up the word."

Mrs Heusser, of Rustington, near Littlehampton, went on to use up her other lifelines, 50:50 and ask the audience, before the win which made her the quiz show's biggest female prizewinner worldwide.

She is only the second £500,000 winner since the programme was launched 26 months ago.

She had been due to start a new job on Monday as a postwoman to boost her family's income, but had to take a day off to attend the show's recording.

She immediately handed in her notice and now plans to buy a house and treat her husband Peter, a kitchen designer for MFI, with a trip to see the Grand Prix live.

Mrs Heusser gave up her career as a solicitor to raise their children Edward, 14, and Greg, 11, and concentrate on writing.

At first she was confident of the correct £500,000 answer but after seeing the alternatives said she "could not have told you how to spell her own name" and she was trying so hard not to cry.

Host Chris Tarrant said he was relieved she did not risk the money to try for the jackpot.

He said: "I was not really disappointed that she didn't get the million."

The first £500,000 winner was Peter Lee, a retired Royal Navy officer from Cardigan, in Wales, who triumphed in January.