Jeremy Clarkson confirmed as new 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' host
The show is coming back - with new twists
Four years ago, we witnessed the end of an era.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, the Chris Tarrant-fronted quiz show which survived on prime-time screens for more than a decade and a half, aired for the final time.
The questions were tough – often tougher than we remember – and only a handful of contestants won the seven-figure top prize.
But we might be seeing that total added to in the near future, with the show returning… albeit without Tarrant at the helm.
As first reported earlier this year, former Top Gear and current The Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson will be taking Tarrant’s place as question-master.
The 57-year-old confirmed the news on Twitter, explaining he ‘always loved’ the show during its 16-year run.
There is no official return date, though reports suggest Millionaire will be back on our screens before the end of the year, and a casting call has already been put out for contestants to appear on the reboot.
ITV have also promised “a number of new twists and turns” - yet to be announced - will be added to the show, while the core lifelines will remain almost identical.
There were just five winners of the top prize during the 16 years: Judith Keppel, Dave Edwards, Robert Brydges, Pat Gibson and Ingram Wilcox.
A sixth, Major Charles Ingram, answered the £1,000,000 question correctly but was later found to have cheated his way to glory.
Seven further individuals won £500,000, as did Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen on the celebrity edition of the quiz.
Clarkson will balance presenting duties with his The Grand Tour commitments
According to The Sun, the new version of the show will incorporate an updated version of the ‘Phone a Friend’ lifeline in an effort to protect against friends of contestants using search engines to find the answer.
The paper reports that a new ‘Ask a Friend’ lifeline will see contestants video-call their pals rather than speaking to them over a landline or mobile.
The Sun also notes the ‘50:50’ and ‘Ask the Audience’ lifelines will remain untouched when the show returns, with seven episodes per week due to air on ITV.
(Images: Rex)
