Eddie’s $20,000 advice
HOT Seat host Eddie McGuire admits he gave away the winning $20,000 answer to a prep teacher on the quiz show last night — and his charitable choice was inspired by former Pies coach Mick Malthouse.
McGuire, moved by teacher Bri Dredge’s vow to buy 200 pairs of shoes for all the children at her prep to year 8 school in the struggling streets of Wendouree, near Ballarat, pushed her to “have another think” after she locked in the wrong answer.
“It was her act of kindness. I couldn’t help but get swept up in it,” McGuire said.
“The whole idea for people to come on the show is to get a little bit of magic, a little bit of gold dust to come their way.”
McGuire concedes he got misty-eyed at the mention of Wendouree, the suburb where Malthouse was raised.
“I know the area she was talking about. I thought of Mick Malthouse as a kid, growing up, in that environment,” McGuire said. “It hit me right in the heartstrings.”
Ms Dredge’s $20,000 question was: “First published in 1929, is T.S Eliot’s famous work Old Possums Book Of Practical what?”
The school teacher said she wanted to lock in “Advice”, but McGuire urged her to have another think. She reconsidered her answer and instead locked in “Cats”.
Asked if, technically, he gave away the answer, McGuire told the Herald Sun: “Not technically. I answered it for her. Put it this way, she wasn’t going to get the wrong answer.”
McGuire said he gave a fleeting thought to how Nine boss David Gyngell would react to the $20,000 giveaway, but reasoned “if Gyng didn’t want to pay up, I’d kick in the amount myself”.
Ms Dredge, 32, teaches at Youille Park Community College.