ITV has officially announced the return date for the iconic late-night quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
The series, which first hit screens in 1998, concluded its 40th series on March 23 this year after beginning on January 26.
The show’s loyal followers were informed via their official Instagram account: “That’s it for tonight and the current series! Join us again, later in the year for more #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire… Good night!”
The announcement left many fans surprised to discover that the 40th series had been divided into two parts, with the second half set to grace our screens in just a few weeks.
Viewers can expect the quiz to return to ITV1 on Sunday, May 4, at 8pm, with Jeremy Clarkson hosting once again after he took over from Chris Tarrant in 2018.
After a production pause in 2014, the rebooted show swung back into action four years later and has been a fixture on our TVs ever since. Over 27 years, the show has aired 690 episodes.
This news follows a recent celebrity special of the show, which aired at the end of March and caused quite a stir among viewers due to a noticeable mistake. BBC Pointless host Alexander Armstrong featured in this episode, trying his luck at answering questions to raise funds for a charitable cause, reports the Express.
At the beginning of the programme, Jeremy, aged 64, went over the game rules and mentioned that there was no audience present. This particular episode originated from 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions were still affecting live events during the global health crisis.
He explained to the host: “You’ve got four lifelines. You’ve got 50/50, two Phone a Friends, no Ask the Audience because there isn’t one, and then Ask the Host, which is when, if you’re in real trouble, you ask me. Is that all clear?”
However, as the game kicked off, an applause track was heard, causing viewers at home to be thoroughly puzzled.
Baffled viewers rushed to X – previously known as Twitter – to voice their confusion. One user queried: “Is there a clapping machine off camera or is the clapping added when the show is edited later?”
Another viewer criticising the production commented: “I guess the clapping must be put on afterwards which is pretty lousy. Not heard canned laughter since Scooby-Doo!” Meanwhile, another user probed: “Who’s doing all the clapping???”
And yet another tweeter expressed their bewilderment, writing: “Watching Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionare right now. Jeremy Clarkson announced that there are 2 ‘phone a friend’ lives and no ‘ask the audience’ because there is no audience. So who on earth is applauding every time Alexander Armstrong gets a correct answer?”
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is available to watch on ITVX.
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