Tensions run high in the dramatic, faster paced new version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Tensions run high and the pressure is on in the world’s most popular game show. No more “Fastest Fingers First” and no more pondering the questions – the new version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? hits a high-speed but, the good news is, that leaves time for even more aspiring millionaires to take the hot seat and battle it out for the top prize of £1 million.
The changes to the show will delight viewers and contestants alike. With more and more people making it to the hot seat through recent castings, the dreaded but revered seat welcomes a wide variety of people from all walks of life – who all have unique reasons for wanting to win a life-changing amount of money. The new show has buckets more emotion, more drama and a tension that will grip viewers at home.
The introduction of an onscreen ticking clock cranks up the tension and increases pressure on contestants to correctly answer questions. The £500 and £1,000 questions have a 15 second time limit, then the following questions, up to and including the £50,000 question, have a 30 second limit.
At the £50,000 safe haven, a new lifeline is introduced. Players are then given an extra boost to their millionaire dream by an additional lifeline called “Switch.” If they don’t like a question, contestants have the option of ‘switching’ it to another. However, players need to ensure they use their Switch life line carefully because once a switch has taken place, they cannot switch back.
Commenting, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host, Chris Tarrant, said: “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has proven to be a phenomenal success in the UK and around the world with an enduring popularity. The changes just made to the show take it to a new level of emotion and excitement that even I, in my 12 years of hosting the show, have not seen. With a big, bad ticking clock, it’s a whole different ball game on the best show on earth.”
The game show, produced and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, originally launched in the UK in 1998 and its popularity quickly spread around the world. Twelve years on, the format has been sold in 120 countries, producing dozens of millionaires around the globe.
Notes to Editors:
The changes in the new version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? include:
• No “Fastest Fingers First” round. Contestants make it to the hot seat through a casting process allowing even more players the chance of winning a life changing sum of money
• Timed questions via an on screen ticking clock. The £500 and £1,000 questions are timed at 15 seconds. Thereafter, up to and including the £50,000 question, there is a 30 second time limit
• An extra lifeline at the £50,000 safe haven. The “Switch” life line enables contestants to switch to another question if they don’t like the original one. However, if players are unhappy with the question they have switched to, they cannot switch back
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