A Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestant ended up getting a bit of a surprise after a male voice answered when he rang his wife as his Phone a Friend.
The poor chap got a ribbing from host Jeremy Clarkson, but fans of the show think they know what’s really going on.
Contestant JP Hogan called his spouse during his hour of need while appearing on the ITV show in 2020 – but was greeted by a male voice.
The science teacher from Lincoln had made some good headway on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but hit a brick wall when he was presented with a confusing question which could have bagged him £16,000 if he answered correctly.
He was asked: “Which of these days is part of the weekend in Germany?”
Hogan had four options to choose from: Donnerstag, Mittwoch, Sonntag, or Dienstag. (It was Sonntag, by the way).
And seen as though he teaches science rather than languages, he was left pretty stumped by the question.
ITV
The contestant said: “My wife’s auntie has lived in Germany for over 50 years, my wife’s been there a few times.
“My wife, who at different times would probably have been in the audience, is at home as one of my Phone a Friends.”
The contestant didn’t want to take the risk and just guess, so he instead decided to use one of his lifelines to call up his other half Elizabeth in the hopes that she could assist him.
The dial tone started ringing out in the studio while Clarkson quickly asked if Hogan would like him to fill her in on how far he had gotten, but the pair quickly silenced themselves when they heard a male voice on the end of the phone.
After awkwardly listening to a few unintelligible words that a male voice uttered, the Top Gear star told the player: “That was a man who just answered your phone…
“Relax, relax! It could be completely innocent.”
The crowd, Clarkson and the contestant then waited with bated breath as they gave Elizabeth’s phone another try – only for her to innocently answer: “Hello?”
ITV
She then confirmed that she had was in some company after the host enquired.
One social media user said: “Break time question: who was the man that answered the phone when JP phoned his wife? #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire.”
But someone else realised that there was actually quite an innocent explanation behind the Phone a Friend fiasco.
They explained: “The man answering was literally an automated voice saying ‘sorry there is no service’. Jeremy was JOKING about an affair.”
Others also speculated that when Elizabeth said someone was with her, she meant that someone from the show was supervising her to make sure she didn’t cheat and Google the answer for JP.
Luckily, the incident didn’t throw JP off his game and he ended up leaving the show with £64,000.