Lilit Manukyan

Lilit Manukyan (born 1979)[1] is an Armenian game show contestant in Spain. In 2014, she became the first foreigner and first non-native Spanish speaker to win the vocabulary-based show Pasapalabra, taking a jackpot of €318,000. From 2020 to 2025, she was a "Chaser" on El cazador, Spain's version of The Chase.

Early and personal life

Manukyan was born in Yerevan[1] in Armenia, and lived in Russia between the ages of 16 and 28.[2] In Russia, she graduated with a degree in foreign business and worked in several companies.[1] She then moved to Spain, choosing the country due to having a cousin there and not perceiving it to be hostile to immigrants.[2]

Manukyan had taken only a few classes in Spanish before arriving in the country in June 2007, and began working as a babysitter or car washer, making far less than €1,000 per month.[1] As of 2022, Manukyan was married and had a daughter, and was employed as a commercial operator coordinator at a Renfe train station in Valencia.[2]

Game shows

Manukyan, who was already a fan of television game shows, began watching Saber y ganar and Pasapalabra in Spain.[1] When she discovered she knew the answers to ten of the questions on the latter's rosco final, she began training to win it, using an online forum to learn from a former jackpot winner.[1] Believing that winning Pasapalabra was more economically viable than her work at the time, she studied six hours a day for the show.[3] Manukyan said in 2022 that her ability in the Spanish language was not perfect, particularly on grammar, but that Pasapalabra only required knowledge of definitions.[2]

Manukyan began competing on Pasapalabra in December 2012.[4] After 37 shows,[1] on 21 November 2014, she won €318,000, becoming the first foreigner and first non-native speaker of Spanish to win the jackpot on the vocabulary-based show.[2] She lasted 85 episodes on the show.[5] Manukyan's jackpot and number of episodes were both the second-most for a female contestant on the show, behind fellow future cazadora Paz Herrera.[3] In September 2017, to mark the show's tenth year on Telecinco, Manukyan took part in a Supercopa, finishing runner-up to fellow future cazador David Leo and taking €25,000.[6]

After Pasapalabra, Manukyan also competed on Atrapa un millón, the Spanish version of The Million Pound Drop on Antena 3; and 15 episodes of Saber y ganar on La 2.[7]

In December 2019, Manukyan was announced as one of four game show veterans to be cazadores on El cazador, the Spanish adaptation for La 1 of British game show The Chase.[8] She combined the role with her job in Valencia.[4] Manukyan had to study general knowledge for the role, with her weaknesses being football and modern music.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Valdés, Isabel (29 November 2014). ""Cuando era pequeña soñaba con ser la primera astronauta armenia"" ["When I was little I dreamt of being the first Armenian astronaut"]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e Catela, Borja R. (18 December 2022). "La vida de Lilit, la armenia que ganó 'Pasapalabra' y triunfa en 'El Cazador': en qué gastó los 318.000 euros" [The life of Lilit, the Armenian woman who won 'Pasapalabra' and triumphs on 'El cazador': what did she spend the 318,000 euros on]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b Costas, Nayin (7 April 2021). "Los trucos que a Lilit Manukyan le permitieron llevarse el bote de 'Pasapalabra'" [The tricks that allowed Lilit Manukyan to take home the jackpot on 'Pasapalabra']. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  4. ^ a b Costas, Nayin (31 March 2021). "La 'cazadora' Lilit: de sus cinco etapas en 'Pasapalabra' a su fugaz paso por 'Saber y ganar'" ['Cazadora' Lilit: from her five stints on 'Pasapalabra' to her fleeting spell on 'Saber y ganar']. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Así es Lilit Manukyan, la espía cazadora del concurso 'La noche de los cazadores'" [This is Lilit Manukyan, the spy chaser on the game show 'La noche de los cazadores']. Las Provincias (in Spanish). 6 February 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  6. ^ "David Leo gana la 'Supercopa de Pasapalabra' y se lleva los 100.000 euros de premio" [David Leo wins the 'Pasapalabra Super Cup' and takes home 100,000 euros as a prize]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 7 September 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  7. ^ Catela, B. R. (11 May 2023). "Quién es Lilit Manukyan, de 'El Cazador', la única persona no nacida en España que se ha llevado el bote de 'Pasapalabra'" [Who is Lilit Manukyan of 'El cazador', the only person born outside Spain to have won the jackpot on 'Pasapalabra']. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  8. ^ Ruiz de Elvira, Álvaro P. (15 December 2019). "Erundino, Paz Herrera, Lilit Manukyan, y Ruth de Andrés: cuatro estrellas de los concursos se suman a un nuevo programa de La 1" [Erundino, Paz Herrera, Lilit Manukyan, and Ruth de Andrés: four game show stars join a new programme on La 1]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  9. ^ Cortés, Helena (10 February 2020). "Anónimos contra supercerebros en «El cazador», el juego «total» de La 1" [Average Joes against superbrains on "El cazador", the "total" game on La 1]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 October 2025.
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