Clarkson behind the wheel for new Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? series
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? will return for a new series next year with Jeremy Clarkson back in the hosting seat.
The game show was revived for a string of anniversary specials earlier this year, with Clarkson taking over the role previously filled by Chris Tarrant.
The seven-episode special, which aired over a week in May, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the show, which was presented by Tarrant from 1998 to 2014.
The new series of ten episodes will air on ITV in 2019 when contestants will have the opportunity to answer 15 questions to win £1 million.
They will be helped along the way with lifelines, with the option to Ask The Audience, Phone a Friend, 50:50 and the return of the new lifeline Ask The Host. Clarkson’s debut as the host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was watched by more than five million gameshow fans, according to overnight ratings.
The former Top Gear presenter 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, joint managing director of production company Stellify Media, added: “Ask The Host is back. And a quick tip for future contestants – don’t use it on questions about fine art, haute cuisine or the scouting association.”
In one of the earlier episodes of the show’s revival, a contestant used the Ask The Host lifeline to consult Clarkson on a driving question.
He left viewers stunned when he admitted he did not know the shape of a stop sign, saying “stopping is for other people”. During the reunion specials Clarkson was incorrect about a number of questions and he wrongly told a contestant he had correctly answered a question, without checking the answer first.
The application process to be a contestant on the show is already open.
The series made global headlines in 2001 after a “coughing” scandal in which contestant Charles Ingram cheated his way to the jackpot.