Both the contestant and Jeremy Clarkson were surprised.
Imagine this: you’re sitting under a barrage of bright lights, Jeremy Clarkson is firing questions at you, and you’re staring at a fortune in prize money – the tension is already sky-high.
But then you call your wife for help, and some random guy picks up the phone? That’s enough to make anyone’s head spin.
It sounds like something straight out of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?… or perhaps a bizarre interrogation nightmare.
That’s exactly what happened to one contestant who used his Phone a Friend lifeline to reach his wife – only for Clarkson to be left speechless when a man answered the call instead.
In 2020, contestant JP Hogan called his partner for help while appearing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
The science teacher from Lincoln had made great progress, but hit a roadblock with a tricky question that could have earned him £16,000 if answered correctly.
Jeremy Clarkson asked, “Which of these days is part of the weekend in Germany?”
Hogan was presented with four options: Donnerstag, Mittwoch, Sonntag, or Dienstag. (The correct answer was Sonntag, by the way.)
Being a science teacher rather than a language expert, Hogan was left stumped. But he had a lifeline: “My wife’s auntie has lived in Germany for over 50 years, and my wife has 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.”
Making the most of his lifeline, Hogan called his partner, Elizabeth, hoping she could help him out.
As the dial tone rang out in the studio, Clarkson quickly offered to fill her in on how far Hogan had gotten. But before they could proceed, they were startled when a man’s voice answered the phone instead.
After an awkward pause filled with unintelligible words from the male voice, Clarkson broke the silence, saying, “That was a man who just answered your phone…”
“Relax, relax! It could be completely innocent,” he reassured Hogan.
The crowd, Clarkson, and Hogan all waited with anticipation as they tried again, and this time, Elizabeth answered with a simple, “Hello?”
When Clarkson asked if Elizabeth had company, she confirmed she did, fueling even more curiosity.
One social media user tweeted, “Break time question: who was the man that answered the phone when JP phoned his wife? #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire.”
However, others quickly pointed out a much more innocent explanation behind the confusion. One person explained, “The man answering was literally an automated voice saying ‘sorry, there is no service.’ Jeremy was JOKING about an affair.”
Some fans speculated that when Elizabeth mentioned someone being with her, she was referring to a show supervisor ensuring she didn’t cheat by Googling the answer for Hogan.
