And there might be an eighth one too – with bosses staying tight-lipped on how many take the £1million this time around
Jeremy Clarkson is going to be thrilled with the drama on the quiz during its 36th run
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is to get its seventh UK jackpot winner in the new series – and the eighth could also follow as TWO contestants make it all the way to the the £1million prize question.
While one player will definitely triumph, producers are not yet revealing what happens the second time. ITV bosses have promised that the 36th series, which starts later this month, will be one of the most dramatic ever seen.
Only six players have previously taken home the life-changing £1million prize – starting with Judith Keppel 26 years ago in 2000. She was followed by David Edwards and Robert Brydges the following year, Pat Gibson in 2004 and Ingram Wilcox in 2006. Donald Fear then became the sixth winner in the ITV show’s history in 2020, after an agonisingly long gap of 14 years.
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The revelation means the upcoming series, which starts on ITV later this month, is guaranteed to contain highs – but there will also be lows. One contestant will lose £186,000 with a single answer – one of the biggest losses in the show’s history.
One insider said: “The new series will see not one but two contestants make it all the way to the £1million question – putting them just one answer away from the big prize. One of them definitely takes it home.. But does the other one? Viewers will have to watch to find out. And the tension in series 36 will be off the scale as one player also gambles a huge amount – and loses.”
Bosses are not revealing where the wins – and the big loss – will come during the run. Hosted by former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the nail-biting new series will again see contestants attempt to climb the Million Pound Money Ladder, using their four lifelines – Ask the Audience, 50:50, Ask the Host and Phone a Friend.
Clarkson said: “I think this may be my favourite series so far. Seeing two people get to the £1 million question was extraordinary. When they’re sitting there on that final question the tension in the studio is incredible, you can really feel it. Can’t wait for people to watch it.”
Last year one contestant broke the record for the biggest amount ever lost on the show. Nicholas Bennett, a data analyst from London’s West Hampstead, got all the way to the £500k question without using a single lifeline – leaving host Clarkson hugely impressed.
But things then took a turn for the worse on the £1million quesion. As he approached the previous one, worth half a million pounds, the host told him that he seemed “quite relaxed”, to which Nicholas responded: “It’s not relaxed inside my head.”
He was asked: “Which of these long-running US sitcoms had the most episodes? a) The Big Bang Theory b) Friends c) The Office or d) Seinfeld. Unsure of the answer, he asked the audience who thought it was Friends – but only 37% – so not wanting to take chances , he used 50/50, which left The Big Bang Theory and The Office (which meant the audience was wrong). At this point, he felt that he knew it was The Big Bang Theory – and he was right.
But then came the £1million question. Clarkson asked: “Which of these words, each coined by a famous writer, was derived from the title of a fairytale about three princes? a) Pandemonium b) Serendipity c) Utopia or d) Yahoo.”
After mulling for some time – and asking a friend, who didn’t know – Nicholas decided that the answer was “yahoo”. But sadly for him, the computer then revealed the answer to be serendipity, coined by Horace Walpole from The Three Princes of Serendip.
As Clarkson admitted he’d be “sobbing on the floor” if he’d just lost £375,000, Nicholas took it on the chin, saying philosophically: ”I’ve still got £125,000.”
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