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When Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? first debuted in August 1999 its popularity exploded like an atom bomb. It seemed like overnight everyone in the country knew about this new game show where contestants could answer a series of questions increasing in difficulty and win a million dollars if they got them all correct.
Regis Philbin was the proverbial X Factor on Millionaire. The US version of the show actually came second after the immense popularity of the game show‘s debut in the UK. Once it captured both the UK and the United States it was then franchised around the globe.
Could You Answer The Final Questions On ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’
The beauty of the show were the lifelines. Contestants had the option to choose a ’50/50′ which would eliminate 2 of the 4 multiple choice answers. They could ‘phone a friend’ and have a genius friend on hand to pick up the phone and answer any questions they might have. And there was an ‘ask the audience’ lifeline where they audience could all vote on the correct response. There were other life lines added in later iterations of the show but this was the core.
During the course of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, there were 15 times when contestants correctly answered every question correctly. 12 individual contestants and three teams of 2-players for a total of 18 won the game and became millionaires. Below, I’ve included the non-celebrity winners and the non-team winners below, starting with John Carpenter who became the first-ever winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in November 1999.
1. John Carpenter (November 1999)
In addition to being the first-ever winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in America, John Carpenter also holds the distinction of being the only winner to ever have extra lifelines left over upon winning. He had the game in the bag and he knew it. John famously called his dad to tell him he was about to become a millionaire while pretending to use his lifeline.
2. Dan Blonsky (January 2000)
3. Joe Trela (March 2000)
4. Bob House (June 2000)
5. Kim Hunt (July 2000)
6. David Goodman (July 2000)
7. Kevin Olmstead (April 2001)
Kevin Olmstead struck gold on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. The jackpot went up $10,000 every episode that nobody won and had reached $2.18 million by the time Kevin Olmstead won it all. When he won the show he became the largest jackpot winner in TV history at the time.
8. Bernie Cullen (April 2001)
9. Ed Toutant (January/September 2001)
Ed Toutant is arguably the most controversial winner in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? history. He first appeared on the show in January 2001 and got the $16,000 question wrong. However, it was later determined the question had an error so he was invited back and in September of that year he won it all and became the 9th millionaire in the show’s history.
10. Kevin Smith (February 2003)
Kevin Smith made history in February 2003 as the first-ever winner of the syndicated version of the show.
11. Nancy Christy (May 2003)
Nancy Christy made history not just as the second winner of the syndicated version of the show but she was also the first woman to win it all in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? history.
12. Robert Essig (February 2004)
13. Sam Murray (November 2009)
How’d everyone do? Were you able to correctly answer the final questions in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? from throughout the years? Drop your win rate down below in the comments section!