New Look For Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Celebrities make TV history as they become first contestants to face new faster route to million pound jackpot.A brand new series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? kicks off on Saturday 18th August on ITV1 featuring a brand new look and a new faster route to the big money prizes, with the first of seven celebrity charity specials.Impressionist Jon Culshaw and actor and comedian, John Thompson, will make television history, as they become the first ever contestants to face the show’s new-look money tree, which puts just twelve –rather than fifteen - questions between them and the jackpot million pound prize.The new route moves contestants into the big money prizes faster by starting at £500 rather than £100, and sees the five questions after the first £1000 “safe haven” take the player up to £50,000, rather than £32,000, where the second “safe haven” is now positioned.Jon and John will face host Chris Tarrant to raise money for their chosen charities, St Joseph’s Hospice in Ormskirk and The Catholic Children’s Rescue Society, while the second pair to brave the new money tree are stars of Emmerdale, Adele Silva and Nick Miles, playing for The Alzheimer’s Society and Ovingdean Hall School for deaf children.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. It’s even harder for the celebrities because it’s not their own money at stake, so I take my hat off to John and Jon, and all the celebrities who we’ll be seeing over the coming weeks, for being brave enough to face the new faster route first!”Celebrities hoping to raise money for their chosen charities on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? over the coming weeks include Eamonn Holmes and Kate Burley; Jonathan Kerrigan and Tricia Penrose; Carol McGiffen & Sherrie Hewson; and Kate Garraway and her husband, Derek Draper.

Contestants found through the new contestant casting auditions, launched last week, will appear in dedicated episodes later on in this series. The auditions are in addition to phone and Internet application and it is still possible to apply via those means for a number of episodes.