Clarkson roars back for Millionaire’s TV return
HE WAS accused of being rude and insult- ing as the new presenter of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? earlier this year.
But despite his controversial performance, Jeremy Clarkson will be in the driving seat as host when the show returns next year.
It had a seven-day run in May to celebrate its 20th anniversary year and ITV announced yesterday that it would return in early 2019.
However, Clarkson, 58, who took over the role from Chris Tarrant, was criticised for mocking a contestant in the first episode who requested the ask-the-audience lifeline.
The former Top Gear host told the audience: ‘Who knew you’d be needed this early?’
Clarkson later admitted that his girlfriend, Lisa Hogan, was ‘cross’ with him because he had been ‘horrid’, and he suggested he would be kinder in subsequent episodes. In the final episode, however, the star of Amazon Prime’s The Grand Tour told a contestant they had answered correctly and won £32,000, without first checking the answer. In fact, it was wrong and the contestant lost £15,000.
In another episode, a contestant used the new lifeline called ‘ask the host’ to consult Clarkson on a driving question, but the presenter was forced to admit that he did not know the shape of a stop sign.
The star tried to disguise the blunder by joking: ‘Stopping is for other people.’
Speaking about returning to the show, which was presented by Tarrant from 1998 to 2014, Clarkson said: ‘I absolutely loved hosting the anniversary shows and cannot wait to spend a few precious hours away from James May and Richard Hammond, making the new ones.’ Matthew Worthy, of Stellify Media, the production company behind the shows, jokingly advised contestants using the ‘ask the host’ lifeline: ‘Don’t use it on questions about fine art, haute cuisine or the scouting association.’
The quiz show was launched in September 1998 and at its peak pulled in more than 19million viewers. The final episode starring Tarrant, 71, aired in February 2014.
The programme spawned versions in countries including Russia, Japan, India and the US, and was the inspiration behind the Oscarwinning film Slumdog Millionaire.
The series made headlines in 2003 when Army major Charles Ingram was found guilty of cheating his way to the top prize by having an accomplice in the audience cough to indicate the correct answers. The application process to be a contestant on the show is open.