Finally we can exclusively reveal the truth behind “how Derren Brown predicted the lottery”.
The answer is: Sealions.
As the Telegraph reported “Brown, famed for his ability to read minds, has tapped into the subconscious of two sealions who have been trained to pick the lottery numbers from the bottom of a swimming pool at Knowsley Safari Park.”
We can now confirm this as TRUE, and anyone who doesn’t buy this is a spoilsport and is not invited to the secret party.
Next week Derren will be predicting the winner of the Grand National using a team of highly trained monkeys that have perfected the art of sculpting their poop in to letters which they then fling at passing vehicles.
YAY! I knew it! Thanks Derren!
I told you all!
lmao… I’m sure he did!
Good stuff.
Of course!
omg i want a lottery sealion, how do i get one
South Park did it…………………..
Didn’t know Derren Brown was a bit of a SP fan?
Anyways, nice 1
ftw
I knew it! I was saying it all last week but all those spoilsports meerly laughed at me…this’ll show ‘em
x
When did the Telegraph start doing animal stories? They’ll be reporting on the underarm sweat patches of celebs soon.
Bollocks, as Southpark has shown, the real sea mammals that are able to pick up random balls are manatees. Poor poor research.
This is bloody hilarious.
Damn, I live in Knowsley, I could have popped down and won a fortune
)
Get’s the ’seal’ of approval from me!
most believable explanation yet! finally we have the truth. i await my invite
x
I’d be quite ready to believe you … had I not seen the Family Guy episode of South Park! Cheeky!
Sounds similar to how South Park said episodes of Family Guy were generated, but that was with dolphins.
Ok, sealions…..get it, I believe you!
But the Grand National prediction…now that’s just plain silly! 
Btw, great to have the blog back. Sadly I can only access it via my phone at the mo.
LC x
I KNEW IT.
Nothing would surprise me what you did next LOL ;P!
haa lovee it!
, i knew it would be sealionss reaaly ahaa xx
I knew it
Haha. i tweeted this article to DB’s twitter page earlier today!
Liars…. I don’t buy the Sealions story one bit… it was those pesky mice wasn’t it?
xx
Brilliant! =)
@ Charlie
first, you need to win the lottery.
I KNEW IT!
I was just sitting there, watching the special, and I knew there was something more to it.. I would’ve had my guess on Dolphins though, ’so long and thanks for all the fish’, but sealions, it definitely makes sense.
how did I not see that one coming! better luck next time for me I suppose!
Cool, Knowsley is local to me too… I’m guessing you’ve also trained the baboons in remote visualisation for spying on the CIA and KGB. That’s why they needed all those car aerials
Amazing … gotta love those sealions ….
My cat is great at spot the ball if anyone’s interested …
Hmm… there’s something fishy going on here (hehehe)
Where’s the bunny/hole sign gone to. I’ve lost that. Actually, I’ve just… lost it really. You buggers have started messing with us again!!!
Wasn’t it also sea lions who were secretly holding David Blaine up on that pole? Invisible sea lions obviously. x
OHH, so it was the obvious option all along?!
I’m dissapointed in you derren, i was expecting something much less predictable
xx
Ha bloody ha….can we expect the actual truth to be revealed at any point…? Or was the sea lion on the open top bus with the kids at christmas…?
Not funny. Booo
It’s amazing how this method has everyone thinking of that anti-Family Guy episode of South Park. Whether this is true or not, this is now my favourite theory =D
lol!
Is it a question of buying into anything? i buy that it was a superb trick but i have not bought any explanations of the trick. The only line i believed on Friday was “so if i’m ever asked how i predicted the lottery. i’m going to say it was just a trick” That i think was about the only truth we got on Friday and going to get. I also believe the coin trick although i don’t know why!
I totally buy it. Can I come to the secret party now?
makes more sence than the power of the crowd thingy.
@Nic – of course we cant expect the truth to be revealed! Derren’s not going to give it away, we all enjoy the mystery and theories and debating too much!
@JayKay – bunny/hole pic? Do you mean top right next to Mr. B. reading a paper? Last time I saw it, it was a wooden chair and a pot of glue!! I wonder how many pics they have…
Ah the old this way that way. I personally think the switching of the balls is hilarious…..sooooo wish that ones true!
My granfather use to show me loads of magic tricks but years later told me he gave up stage magic due to the inevitable smart arse who says “I know how ya done that mister”
So heres to keeping tricks as tricks and the mind ticking! If Derren can keep it a secret half as long as that spoon bender I’ll be happy…..curious….but happy
@Jay Kay (hmm, I seem to have a strange tendancy towards you eh?)
Yeah… the dreaded ring/circle of shame.
How dare anyone famous sweat or be less than perfect.
Surely there’s some sort of surgical proceedure they can have to remove their sweat glands.
If not… why not! haha.
Too much pressure is put on celeb’s to be beyond perfect. I blame the media and people in general for being drawn into the whole glamour mag culture.
We are all what we are, once you accept that you can start to be happy with it.
And yes… sea lions, of course… why didn’t I think of that! Must have been one of the few that hadn’t crossed my mind.
Secret party eh? Hmmm… errr. Uhuh.
Feeling slighlty worried now for some ‘unknown’ reason.
Peace People!
A very good psychic told him the numbers! lol
Well clearly, I thought everyone knew that was how it was done! So obvious…
Finally he tells the truth! See Derren? It’s much better to be honest with us.
Woo Secret party
*goes and hunts for sea lions*
Sealions forevvvvvver!!! Hail the sealions!!
Now where’s that party at??
)
I’ve totally agreed to this being true….so when or where is the secret party then??
LC x
Sealions????
I thought it was badgers!!!!
Awesome ! Douglas Adams would be proud !
i know he predicted the lottery and everything (which in my opinion was a bit easy for someone like him
) and i know theres still three weeks to go but i still don’t understnad what all the backwards clips were about can anyone help plz?? 
@ Siobhán
Hello again, so you knew eh? Well why did you keep it a secret? Why didn’t you tell the rest of us? lol
Sooo guys.
Anyone want to give a clue, cryptic or otherwise as to where this party may be being held?
Peace People!
@thecolinrocks – it was a whole section which was posted before the sealions one. I was away from the computer for enough time to have half a gateau – one of those really cheap Cadbury’s dry-as-a-badger’s ones that are only sold in local shops – and I came back to a sign which coops had vandalised saying ‘No tempting of holes’ and 17 comments! Where has it gone? Is it just a wee blip? Or are they mushing my liquidated brain again?
@Mr Woolf – why botox of course! In the armpit (ouch!). That stops you sweating in the pit region. How sad are we that we’re not allowed a moist orifice here and there. Is an armpit technically an orifice?
Excellent, thanks for such an (obvious) explanation … *waits patiently by the letterbox for her invite …*
That’s impossible. How would they get the sealions into the studio? When the camera swept round there wasn’t even a pool. This is clearly just another act of misdirection by a very silly boy :p
:-*
sorry, did I do that out loud??
Get some more sleep, there are grammatical errors.
@ JayKay
Of course, nothing like injecting toxins to solve problems. As long as people tell you you need it
http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2009/05/i-did-a-graffito-sorry-couldnt-help-myself/
that one?
Peace People!
@JayKay – ooh, a hole-tempting reference? Derren talks about the hole-tempting game in An Evening Of Wonders…
PS – was it this post? http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2009/05/i-did-a-graffito-sorry-couldnt-help-myself/
So, not a split screen then?
i was close at least……i was thinking otters. after all they do have a a larger brain capacity than most other water bound mammals their size. Thank you David Attimborgh
I envy those monkeys. I want to fire poop at other people and get away with it!
@thecolinrocks – exactly. I was just searching for the poat there, thought it might be old. I’ve also been looking at the code in the banner again – it has lots of old posts in teh code. But I am too darn untechnical to work anything out.
@Mr Wolf – I had botox once. Full monty forehead. Looked ten years younger and rested, instead of my usual Macbeth’s witch on a lemon-sucking outing – but felt like I was wearing a leather gimp mask and my smile looked all wrong as my cheeks and crow’s feet were doing double the work as the paralysed forehead did sweet FA. I couldn’t wait for it to wear off into something a tad more natural than wax death mask meets the Joker.
@ JayKay
Lol.
Sorry not laughing at the obvious discomfort you went through with it, more your extremely effective visually descriptive talents.
So you wont be having it again then I take it?
Peace People!
I’ve been saying this all along
the smilies make me love derren even more. and yes, i have only just noticed.
roflmao funny.
Btw, did you know you’ve spelt your name wrong. It’s spelt with an A not an E.
@JayKay – erm… codes in the banner? The banner on this site (all your chair are belong to us)? I’d love to help, but don’t quite follow you…?
Hmmm. I suspect that my hamster, Bazil, is able to accurately predict the lottery numbers. But despite my endless pleading the hamster remains tight lipped. Let’s see if he can accurately predict which of his favourite nutty chews contain Warfarin….
I just knew there was more to this than met the eye!!
This is the way, as South Park describes, how the creators of Family Guy come up with new ideas…. Well okay, not exactly sealions but manatees. However they do pick balls with random words on them and these are being made into a sentence…. I don’t actually think anybody cares about that but just wanted to point out where the idea probably came from
But back to topic, I don’t think it matters how Derren pulled it off, it was perfect and entertaining and that’s what it was supposed to be.
http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2009/05/
And the May 09 entry under the banner code takes me back to the sealions pic on the current page. I’m obviously looking too far into things again. Onto the other half of the gateau now. Small sliver at a time. Trying to convince myself that I’m not doing an entire 3000 calorie crap cake.
If I wanted to advertise my lottery enterprise….. what a wonderful way of doing it. I would pay large amounts of money to the charities of Derren Brown’s choice for that kind of publicity.
@thecolinrocks – yeh, his cheeky grin banner at the top. If you contro click on it (I’ve a Mac, so that’s what I do, you can read the source info).
And I can see the smiley stuff, but what are we supposed to do with it? I am dumb.
@ Mr Woolf – how very dare you laugh! Haha! And, no, no more botox – well maybe right in the epicentre of my frown.
@ JayKay
Perhaps the coded links you’re refering to are just the embedded links for the buttons just below the banner?
E.g. Home, competitions, about, reccomended reading etc.?
Any help to you?
Peace People!
“Mr Brown was unavailable for comment” No, you don’t say!
@JayKay @Mr Woolf – You can get Botox in your feet too so you can wear really high heels all night without your feet aching. Just incase you ever need to know :-p Madness.
Ahh this makes more sense…
@JayKay – yeah the source is littered with links to old posts, that’s just the blog software doing what it does… nothing unusual there. I don’t think… *checks again with an even finer toothcomb*
@Mr Woolf – of course they are and I am bonkers. That’s why I flung it up there. I am clueless when it comes to computers. I am trying not to be though. I blame it all on my maths’ teacher shouting at me when I was 13 when I couldn’t get the hang of quadratic equations. I went from having 90% to failing every single maths’ test thereafter. Wish Derren had taught me maths.
And, yes, botox in your feetsies is what the stars get so that the Choo’s can’t be felt slicing into their bunions.
@Steve – what exactly is making all the sense?
Damn I need a lottery predicting sealion!
Well, here was I hoping I’d be all witty and original with my ’seal of approval’ comment only to find that it’s already been done, tsk.
I’m so glad I didn’t make the missed-hake of repeating some crappie fish puns.
(Sorry…)
this isn’t news
sealions have been predicting important world events for millenia
catch up
Aren’t you worried people will believe this, or weighted Lotto balls, or crowd guessing?
Imagine all the abused sealions.
This sounds like the South Park Episode “Cartoon Wars” where it was discovered that Aquatic Mammals in fact randomly selected balls to determine the plot of “Family Guy” episodes. I aint saying, I’m just saying
PS thanks for removing the plural in Bases it fits in much better with the text from Zero Wing.
Oh wait…..
I meant Minds. Ack! Teach me to be a smart ar**
changed name, was Debs….anyhoo, ive just read about some missing footage from the prediction explanation….kids on a bus at xmas holding numbers, the lotto numbers…now i can distinctly recall reading and seeing a picture about this, on this very blog, and it referred to the events that we would see later in the year….
WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?!?!?! even more confused then before.
aww what a cute way to predict the lotto. Well done derren.
I’ve bought a couple of sealions for myself whilst rooting around for Phyllis Fallus stuff and more things I am unsure about, so I dunno if they’ll help.
Found some more hashy numbers on forward-splash
Phyllis FalsusPhyllis Falsus
Which lead to a lyrics page, but it looks like it may be missing stuff. Maybe it’s part of the original .wav, but I may have to go to bed before I check as I may pass out.
And
look at what everyone is saying?You wouldn't want to predict 13 would be in there - it's an unlucky number for someFrom Derren’s Predictions.
They probably mean nowt, buy I tried. I think I am off to bed.
GRAVITY.
INK.
SNOW FALLING STRAIGHT DOWN.
I KNOW THE ANSWER.
BECAUSE I KNOW DERREN.
Well, it’s more plausible than “wisdom of the crowds” – but then, what isn’t?
Thanks for clearing this up.
Of course! Sealions! I had totally forgotten about their mind reading abilities. DUH!
Oh, that was SO obvious.. easy to guess.
I would have shat bricks if 4 8 15 16 23 42 had come out… if only he had used polar bears -.-
LOL I’m sooo invited to the secret party! yay!!!
now… back to training my pet sealions!
I’ll be heading to the zoo with some balls tonight… lets hope they don’t see me.
After getting over my initial rants about the lottery thing. I am truly looking forward to the next events.
I trust you will get your mojo back soon, Mr Brown.
Talking of magic and misdirection at Knowsley Safari Park, under the sealion viewing platform is a small reptile house. I visited a few years back and noticed how many tanks seemed to be vacant… I sometimes suspect zoos of economising on critters by getting the public to imagine they’re “behind that log” or “round the side” or camouflaged.
Just as I was smirking to myself about my little conspiracy theory, I reached the final reptile enclosure and saw 3 brightly coloured tree snakes in a glass fronted display. I couldn’t really argue with that.
Except they were all striking exactly the same pose, they all had seamlines and all 3 of them were familiar from the rubber versions I’d seen in a toyshop a couple of weeks earlier.
Good to see zookeepers are keeping us on our toes…
hehe I love it!
Can I go to the secret party? I’ll bring wine.
Phyllis, why didn’t my codes I typed on my last post show up? They immediately vanished when I sent the post. I know I was tired, but I wasn’t hallucinating or anything. I don’t think.
Msg from Abeo: Because its HTML code thats being procesed as such
This is very obviously a poorly veiled reference to 80s \’pop\’ \’legend\’ Seal and his ability to accurately predict chart positions through the medium of ironing his socks. I can\’t believe that you used such a hackneyed method for the lottery prediction. *tsk*
Just like the manatees who write Family Guy using idea balls, right?
Ta Abeo. Is there a reason for processing it to disapear that I’m just not clever enought to get. Or am I reading too much in..? Sigh…
Msg from Abeo: post it again in another comment and ill insert it into your first comment and make it show
So it doesn’t really matter then. I’m just looking into the abyss and finding… deeper and darker abyss? Another sigh…
look at what everyone is saying?You wouldn't want to predict 13 would be in there - it's an unlucky number for somePhyllis FalsusAnd, as if by magic, Abeo makes the text visible once more!
Aha, you stuck the sentences back in the well-previous post, but not the hashed code numbers. Well, I’ve tried to find out what the code means and I’ve googled, but I don’t know my Naglfar from my Norg anymore.
For crying out loud… All these years I’ve been using the wrong kind of sea-mammal to predict the lottery. *shoots her beloved pet-sea-otters*
Abeo. You’re good, you. !Poof! No offence to anyone.
Seal Ball http://www.flashgames247.com/play/409.html
It takes a few secs to come up. Unfortunately no lottery numbers, but it’ll allow you to kill some time whilst you wait for today’s new piccies to come up. Lahlahlahlahlahla….
Finally, an intelligent explanation … I mean, Brown??? No way that he could have predicted it … must have been the sea lions .. or monkeys .. or his parrots .. or his stuffed animals … or his fish … or erm … Coops (that guy really does not know what is going on in his brain … what good stuff ..).
Darn and I thought it was Aliens!! There goes my theory!!
@ JayKay
Hashed code = Phyllis Falsus
Hope that helps, I trust you enough to possibly win the prize. You seem like a kind, deserving and generous person to do so
Peace People!
Sheesh
I can’t believe how gullible you people are.
He did NOT use sealions – that would be ridiculous.
Nor did he use slight of hand or other ‘illusionist” tricks.
He used real ‘Magic’ – everything else is just misdirection.
I think its time we burnt him.
Thanks 4eyes – you might want to check your bank account this morning
– Phillis
i think he was signing off AS Jesus. the big guy is obviously miffed that hes not the only one who can boggle minds. Obviously jesus would be critical, noone is as good as he…if derren can turn water to wine ill be well impressed! maybe that should be his next feat! infact, he could do it at the secret party! woop!
x
We are British. A poop is breaking wind and our waste is called poo. Don’t get all American on us now.
Lol,
Wow… is that all it took then?
I thought I’d been hinting at that all along, haha.
Still, nevermind.
A poor man is a wise man after all
Peace People!
Phoque!
@Mr Woolf – You’re always a gent, but I’m really a bitch at heart, heehee! And, try as I might, I just am not fast or clever enough to win anything on here, haha! I’m too new to the cryptic-ness of it all. I am quite good at the 100m though if that counts for anything. And I have got county sport long-jumping medals – does that get any points..? No..? Oh well.
@kenpeace – I think I’ve only ever used poo or poop once in my life and that’s on here strangely enough. We have better words for it where I’m from in Scotland. But I want everyone to believe I’m a laydee.
I don’t really mind how he did it, it was just entertainment… I think we’ll probably find that ALL his tricks involve sea mammals of some description; the man is obsessed with them. Though not as obsessed as he is with mice.
I’d have gone straight for 13 and got mouse innards everywhere.
I’m glad i wasn’t involved in the paper cup trick though
HaHaHaHa….LMFAO.
Knew it…After monkeys he needs to try snakes, will add to the mysterious air of the Magician.
Dont care what the real outcome is…I will always be a fan of DB.
:0)
Derren I smell something fishy. Are you sure it was the sealions? I’m not gonna doubt it because I want into the secret party and anyhow it’s best to believe what you’re told. Potentially saving yourself a few thousand thoughts that way!
23 or 37?
You sea he wasn’t lion !!!!
@Andrew P – Very good!!
LC x
@ JayKay
Well your sporting achievments do count for something, of course.
Remind me to never get chased by you, haha. And anyway, having a cryptic mind has some big disadvantages to it, crazyness for one thing
I’m sure you’re not a bitch at heart, you’ve been nice as pie on here.
In case you haven’t noticed… there’s always a few that think because their faces aren’t visible or they’re no-where near the point of conversation, that this gives them a license to be arrogant, insulting and downright rude.
Not all obviously, but there’s always a few around.
Meh… if that makes them feel better about themselve’s I guess it’s all they really have to hold on to
Luckily the majority here seem to be genuinly nice people.
Peace People!
@AndrewP Bravo! that was a good one lol x
Even if seals were behind it….
What about the kids??
Here is a link to the blog where I learned more.
http://exomagic.com/blog/2009/09/16/derren-brown-more-than-meets-the-eye/
Doesn’t this add a bit more to the effect?
Is this for real? lol! Monkeys and poop? I will be watching this lol!
interesting fact, “Phyllis Falsus” is an anagram of “ill flash pussy”
I’ve read that blog entry which your link refers to Jacob, and it is strange that that footage hasn’t seen the light of day. Will it in the future? Who knows?
LC x
lol I watched Jonathan Creek- Eyes of Tiresias today. Funilly enough, a stage magician figures out the lottery numbers- all is explained by Alan Davies eponymous character.
@Mr Woolf – Nowt wrong with being cryptic and crazy – better than being bland and insensitive. And I agree with you about the bods on here – very nice, or I would not currently be spending my life on the blog. BLog.
@Andrew P – the full cheese… drumrrrrrollbadabadabdummn – Tischhhhhh!
What is happening with what happened? Am I a fool that deserves to not know something or do I already know but am not ready to accept it. Is this depreciation of fans in a “treat em mean keep em keen” vain or treating fans with upmost respect by not spelling it out.
Whatever it is I will be “glued” to my set Friday, albeit watching it recorded when I get home from work
@ JayKay
Thank you kind lady. Yes there are indeed worse things to be in the world than me
Hope all things with you are good.
@ Andrew P
Surprised Flapjack didn’t spurt that one out first 
Very good
@ 4eyes
Sorry, a bit rude of me. Congratulations on your win, spend it wisely (perhaps think of the children too?)
However I would just like to add that it is only “A kind of magic”!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIZFq3VDeUY
Peace People!
(P.S. I think I’m hearing things at 0:09 – 0:12, haha
Crazy!)
i was watching it and that’s how i guessed it lol and i told my grandma but she didn’t believe me, well now i can rub her face in it lmao
Hi derren,
would just like to invite you to come and meet biffo and max here at knowsley safari park .We know you are a busy man but anytime your in the area please feel free to pop in and say hello.
ellie x x
Read somewhere once can’t remember where so bad at retaining some things.But anyway apparentely the no 37 is the most chosen number when asking someone to pick a number.
all your chair are belong to us at the very top of the page what does it meen anybody tell me ?
Reading out the numbers after the result is not a prediction, it is reading the numbers out after the result. What a lot of non-sense for a bit of split screen action…
Excellent I love it! Those less intelligent among us might not realise that this is a pisstake about people making wild speculations about lazers and LED balls and stuff, but the sarcasm is not wasted on some of us =] what makes me laugh is that people are moaning that your friday show didn’t explain in simple terms: this is how you do it.
I think the real trick here is: you’ve got the whole nation talking about one man: you! Well done Derren, whatever it was you did will certainly go down in history, and though i’d love to know what really happened, i know i never will, and i’m cool wil that.
No split screen because he did indead choose 5 of the six numbers,so he must have known in advance what they would be.Either he has friends in high places or it was because we were watching it.You know I was born on Friday so there would be infinate ways in which I could die.Apparantly the Bhudda died in the bull so I’m aiming for this,You must know I have justice tatooed to my arse.Sorry I can’t help it you bring it out of me.This game I have no idea what it is, but I can see its nearly over thank God! You should’t act out prophecy because its not real.It would be so good if Scotland and England could be one unit it would make such a pretty flag.Then I remembered we already have one but it doesn’t operate in our lives.It must be all the wicked things we did to them in the past.