Who Wants to be a Millionaire had graced our screens tirelessly for 16 years, with Chris Tarrant hosting the ever-popular ITV game show from 1998, all the way until 2014!
The general knowledge-based show was brought back in 2018 to celebrate its 20th anniversary. However, controversial presenter Jeremy Clarkson – who formerly hosted BBC’s Top Gear – took over at the helm – and has since been given a second season.
In the show’s 22-year history, just five lucky contestants have won the top prize of £1m – with Tarrant handing over all five of the mega-money cheques. Clarkson has come close, however, asking English teacher John Robinson the big question. Although, Robinson opted to take the offer of £500,000 instead.
If you’ve always wanted to enter the iconic studio and sit in the Who Wants to be a Millionaire hot seat, but can’t be bothered with the application process, then not to worry, as you can attempt to win yourself a pretty penny, with the Who Wants to be a Millionaire slot – which is sure to become one of your favourite online slot games!
And, if you still need some extra motivation, then let’s take a look back at some of the show’s big winners.
Judith Keppel – 2000
After two years on the air, Judith Keppel became the first winner of the show’s £1m prize – and is still, to this date, the only women to win the mouth-watering amount of money! The garden designer is a distant cousin of the Duchess of Cornwall and coincidently faced a jackpot question about the Royal Family. Keppel is still putting her immense general knowledge to the test as a member of the elite team on the BBC game show Eggheads.
David Edwards – 2001
Just six months after Keppel, Welshman David Edwards scooped the £1m jackpot – answering all 15 questions correctly. It wasn’t plain sailing for the physics teacher, however, as he used all of his lifelines on the penultimate question. Edward’s £1m question was; ‘If you planted the seeds of Quercus robur, what would grow?’ – Which he answered correctly to take home the life-changing amount of money. Before appearing on the ITV show, Edwards won Mastermind and has since taken part in an Eggheads spin-offs.
Robert Brydges – 2001
2001 turned out to be a costly year for the ITV production with Robert Brydges also scooping the £1m prize – shortly after the infamous Charles Ingram scandal, known as ‘The Coughing Major.’ Brydges was a London banker and many argued that he was too rich to be on the show, although he had correctly answered the 15 questions fair-and-square. Unlike his pre-successors, Brydges has stayed out of the limelight since his win and has not appeared on any other game show.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Robert Brydges became our third million-pound winner <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MillionaireUK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#MillionaireUK</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FinalAnswer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#FinalAnswer</a> <a href=”http://t.co/6I1sAEuQBg”>pic.twitter.com/6I1sAEuQBg</a></p>— Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (@MillionaireUK) <a href=”https://twitter.com/MillionaireUK/status/433338562763710465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Pat Gibson – 2004
Viewers were left waiting until 2004 for the next £1m champion, when Pat Gibson became the next winner of a life-changing sum of money. The Northern Irishman was left with two of his lifelines still available for the final question – the only winner lucky enough to find themselves in that situation. Gibson narrowed the answers down to 50:50 before calling his friend to confirm his inclination. The millionaire has enjoyed more quiz success since – winning Mastermind, Mastermind Champion of Champions, and Brain of Britian. He also sits alongside Keppel on the expert team on Eggheads.
Ingram Wilcox – 2006
Surprisingly there hasn’t been a lucky recipient of the Who Wants to be a Millionaire grand prize since 2006 – meaning there has been a whopping 10 seasons without a £1m jackpot winner. The last man to win the prize was Ingram Wilcox, but he had to patiently wait his turn after making it to the Fastest Finger First pool twice before winning. The civil servant ran out of lifelines at £32,000 – meaning he had an impressive five questions to answer with no help. However, Ingram pulled it out the bag and went on to win the whopping sum of cash that all players dream of!
Now that you have read about the past winners, why not try your luck and play for a jackpot of your very own with the show’s themed Slot!
