Millionaire cuts questions to 12 in overhaul

Millionaire cuts questions to 12 in overhaul
Millionaire cuts questions to 12 in overhaul

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is changing its format, cutting the number of questions it takes to reach the £1 million jackpot. The prize money will start at £500 rather than £100 and there will be only 12 questions to replace the former 15. After reaching £1,000, five questions will take a contestant up to a £50,000 'safe haven', previously £32,000. Host Chris Tarrant said: "Sitting in that hotseat has always been a daunting prospect, but now the contestants are thrown in at the deep end almost as soon as they've sat down, facing questions worth literally thousands." Millionaire recently announced it was going to hold open auditions for contestants, thought to be a response to dwindling interest in the hit show. The format will be unveiled in the first of seven celebrity charity specials beginning this Saturday on ITV1, and will continue throughout the new series. Celebrity pairings taking part in the coming weeks include GMTV's Kate Garraway and husband Derek Draper, Sky News presenters Eamonn Holmes and Kay Burley, Emmerdale stars Adele Silva and Nick Miles, and impressionist Jon Culshaw with actor John Thompson.

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