It was always going to be a risk opening the A-level result envelope live on air.
But the nation drew a collective breath at the awkward moment when Niall revealed he hadnt quite got the grades he needed.
The intelligent 18-year-old had been hoping for a place to study Russian history at Cambridge University.
He needed A*A or ABB for his second choice of Edinburgh, he told Good Morning Britain.
But when he opened up the fateful envelope, the student at Wyke Sixth Form College in Hull, East Yorkshire hadnt quite got what he needed.
Niall managed to put a brave face on it as he revealed an A in German, A in history, A in maths and a B in physics.
He told presenter Katy Rickitt: It isnt quite what I needed, but its one of those things you cant really change isnt it?
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He told the nation that he still stood a chance at Cambridge through a summer pool or he would very happily go to insurance institution Edinburgh.
When asked how he felt about heading to Scotland, he said: Edinburghs a good uni, I really like the city. In many ways I prefer the city itself to Cambridge; its a lot more lively.
Either way, Im still going to a good university so its not the end of the world, he wisely concluded.
This year, the boys have managed to beat the girls as the results were revealed on a day that every Sixth-former dreads.
Results for the overhauled exams are the best for six years as it emerged that a total of 26.4% entrants scored either an A or A*.
A total of 8.0% of entrants received an A*, down from 8.3% last year.
This is the lowest level since 2013, when it was 7.6%.
The overall pass rate (grades A*-E) was 97.6%, down from 97.9% last year. This is the lowest pass rate since 2010, when it was also 97.6%.
The proportion of boys who got A or higher was 26.6%, 0.4 percentage points higher than girls (26.2%).
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