70 Fun Facts About Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Which British network aired the original series when it debuted on 4 September 1998?

The first run went out on successive evenings for around ten days before settling into a Saturday primetime slot in autumn 2000.

What working title did the show carry during its design phase?

The final title was chosen by the network's director of programmes, David Liddiment.

The show's title comes from a Cole Porter song written for which 1956 musical film?

The film starred Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm.

Who presented the original British series from 1998 to 2014?

He signed off with a clip-show farewell in February 2014 after 30 series.

The three creators had devised games for the host's morning show on which radio station?

One of those radio games was known as the bong game.

Which father-and-son duo composed the tension-building music that plays throughout every episode?

Unusually for a game show, the score was designed to run for the entire episode rather than only at key moments.

The main theme was inspired by which movement of Gustav Holst's The Planets?

The composers wrote three variations for the main game, each ramping up the tension as the money climbed.

Who became the first top-prize winner anywhere in the franchise, on the American show in November 1999?

He reached the final question without using a single lifeline.

What did the first-ever top-prize winner do for a living, prompting playful boos?

He was still working for the Internal Revenue Service as of 2024, having decided the winnings were not enough to quit.

The first US million-dollar question asked which president had appeared on Laugh-In. What was the answer?

The winner used his Phone-a-Friend on that question only to tell his father he was about to win.

Who was the first person to win £1 million on the British show, in November 2000?

She was a garden designer who had spent about £100 phoning the show more than 50 times to get on.

The first British £1 million winner went on to be a resident quizzer on which BBC show from 2003 to 2022?

She was a granddaughter of the 9th Earl of Albemarle and a third cousin of Queen Camilla.

The first British £1 million question, in November 2000, concerned Henry II and which queen, the winner's own ancestor?

Her family tree ran back through the Earls of Albemarle to the medieval royal couple in the question.

Which British Army major was denied £1 million in the 2001 Millionaire coughing scandal?

His wife and her brother had each already appeared as contestants and won the same five-figure sum.

What is a one followed by one hundred zeros called, per the disputed 2001 £1 million question?

The contestant said he had never heard of the correct term, then locked it in anyway.

What was the correct answer to the £500,000 question about Baron Haussmann in the 2001 Millionaire scandal?

He guessed the surname sounded German before switching to the right city.

Where were the three defendants in the coughing scandal tried and convicted in April 2003?

The trial lasted four weeks and the jury deliberated for three and a half days.

What was the occupation of Tecwen Whittock, the man convicted of coughing to signal answers in 2001?

He told the court he suffered from a persistent cough caused by hay fever and a dust allergy.

In the 2020 drama Quiz, which actor played the show's host?

He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTA Television Awards for the role.

Who played the accused major in the 2020 drama Quiz?

The real couple visited the set to meet the actors playing them.

Who directed all three episodes of the 2020 drama Quiz?

Writer James Graham pitched it as an Ocean's 11 with middle-class English people using encyclopedias instead of guns.

In 2010 the coughing-scandal major lost three toes in an accident involving what?

He went on to run a computer business and had written two novels by 2020.

Who hosted the original American primetime version, which launched in August 1999?

The show became the highest-rated on US television in the 1999–2000 season, averaging about 29 million viewers.

The original US host popularised which menswear look during the show's first run?

Van Heusen briefly sold a clothing line based on the look, called Regis.

Which network launched the American version in 1999?

It began as a two-week special event before becoming a regular series in January 2000.

Who hosted the daily syndicated American version from 2002 to 2013?

She had earlier been a celebrity contestant, winning $250,000 for charity on the primetime show.

Who was first offered the syndicated US hosting job in 2002 but turned it down almost immediately?

The eventual host was offered the role to sweeten a contract renegotiation for The View.

Which late-night host fronted the 2020 primetime revival of the American show?

He also served as co-executive producer of the reboot, taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.

Who hosted the syndicated American show for 2014-15 after Cedric the Entertainer left?

Chris Harrison then took over full hosting duties in autumn 2015.

Kevin Olmstead won a progressive jackpot on the US show in April 2001. How much was it?

The prize had been rising by $10,000 per episode, making him the biggest winner in television history at the time.

Who, in May 2003, became the first woman to win the top prize on the American show?

She remained the only female winner for more than two decades.

Why was Ed Toutant, who lost at $16,000 in January 2001, invited back to the American show later that year?

He returned, started again from a new $16,000 question and went on to win the jackpot.

In millions of dollars, what was the top prize on the 2004 US spin-off Super Millionaire?

Its Fastest Finger round returned for these specials after being dropped from the syndicated show.

Which Super Millionaire lifeline allowed a second guess but forbade walking away?

It later replaced the fifty-fifty lifeline in the main US show when a clock was added in 2008.

Why did the American version drop the Phone-a-Friend lifeline in January 2010?

Producers felt it now favoured anyone with an internet-connected friend rather than a knowledgeable one.

Between 2004 and 2006, home viewers joined Millionaire's Ask the Audience vote via which AOL Instant Messenger name?

Their votes were tallied alongside the studio audience's keypads.

In 2016, production of the syndicated American show moved to which unusual location?

Before that it had been taped in Manhattan, East Harlem and Stamford, Connecticut.

Which celebrity chef became the first celebrity to win $1 million on the American show, in November 2020?

He won for his charity Southern Smoke Foundation with help from Mina Kimes on the final question.

Whom did Ken Jennings and Matt Damon phone on the final question of their 2025 $1 million win?

The call, echoing the 1999 winner's stunt, was cut from the broadcast for time.

Who hosted the Australian version from its 1999 debut on the Nine Network?

He briefly gave up on-air work in 2006 when he became the network's CEO.

Early Australian episodes often used a joke D option referencing the host's presidency of which football club?

One question about Frankie Goes to Hollywood offered the club as its fourth answer.

Which Survivor winner became the franchise's first celebrity to leave with nothing, on the Australian show in 2000?

He got his fourth question wrong, and the episode was later shown in the United States too.

What was the six-contestant Australian spin-off that began on the Nine Network in April 2009?

The pilot had been titled Millionaire: Russian Roulette.

What is the Hindi-language version of the show called?

The title translates as Who Will Become a Millionaire, with a crore being ten million rupees.

Which Bollywood star has hosted the Indian version for every season but one since 2000?

It was his first appearance on Indian television.

Who stepped in to host the third season of the Indian version in 2007?

Ratings dropped significantly with the change of host and the regular presenter returned in 2010.

Which Bihar computer instructor, who won ₹5 crore in 2011, was dubbed the real-life Slumdog Millionaire?

He had been earning about ₹6,000 a month before appearing on the show.

The film Slumdog Millionaire was loosely based on which 2005 novel by Vikas Swarup?

The film went on to win eight of the ten Academy Awards it was nominated for.

In Slumdog Millionaire, what does Jamal guess is the third musketeer's name?

He uses Phone-a-Friend to call his brother, but it is Latika who answers, and she does not know.

Which production company made the original British show?

It also produced the film Slumdog Millionaire through its film division.

Which company took over the rights to the Millionaire format in 2008?

It acquired the rights through its purchase of the Dutch company 2waytraffic that year.

Who hosted the 2018 20th-anniversary revival of the British show?

The revival's first episode drew 5.06 million viewers and led to further series.

Which lifeline was introduced with the British revival in 2018?

The host discloses they have no outside contact, and both see the correct answer at the same time.

Donald Fear, the 2020 British £1 million winner, used only which lifeline during his entire run?

A history and politics teacher, he was the first British winner with lifelines to spare.

How many viewers, in millions, watched the British show's all-time record broadcast on 7 March 1999?

By 2005 the show was typically pulling in only 3 to 4 million viewers.

Where was the British revival filmed when it returned in 2018?

The original run had used Fountain Studios, Elstree and later Television Centre.

How many episodes did the original 1998–2014 British series run to?

They were spread across 30 series.

Which catchphrase did the original British host use while showing a contestant their current cheque?

It was meant to urge them on to play for more.

Who began hosting the German version on RTL at its 1999 launch?

The German show later added a Risk Mode with a fourth lifeline in exchange for losing a safety net.

The Russian version launched on NTV in 1999 under a different title. What did it translate as?

It was relaunched under a straight translation of the franchise title on Channel One in 2001.

Co-creator Steven Knight later created which BBC crime drama?

He also wrote the screenplays for Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises.

Under the original franchise rules, international hosts had to wear suits by whom?

Producers were also barred from commissioning local music, so the same cues play worldwide.

What must contestants do to win the Fastest Finger First round?

The very first British series simply used a multiple-choice question before switching to ordering.

Besides £1,000, what was the second safety net in the original 15-question British format?

When the show cut to 12 questions in 2007, the second net moved to £50,000.

What was the correct translation of the US motto in the flawed 2006 British £1 million Millionaire question?

The producers later admitted the question was flawed and let the pair return to replay it.

Roughly how many episodes did the syndicated American host present across her eleven seasons?

Over that run she offered contestants a combined total of more than $70,000,000.

What was the title of the original US host's 2000 memoir, written in response to the show's success?

His earlier book, I'm Only One Man!, had followed a year in his life.

Which multiple world-champion Irish quiz player won £1 million on the British show in April 2004?

He was only the fourth person to take the British top prize.

Where did the show rank in the BFI's 2000 list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes?

The 2020 drama about the coughing scandal later drew a combined audience past 10 million.

Which Australian contestant, cleared of cheating, won the top prize in November 2005 with help from a lifeline?

An A Current Affair investigation into his earlier appearance boosted ratings for the episode in which he won.