Jeremy Clarkson confirmed as new 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' host
The show is coming back - with new twists
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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.
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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.
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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)