Fans of ITV’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire “unplugged” as they complained a festive episode was “painful” to watch. Host Jeremy Clarkson welcomed a number of famous faces to the show as they tested their general knowledge skills in a bid to win up to £1 million.
First in the place of honor was the English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter Jools Holland. However, he proved that his general knowledge skills were not as strong as his musical skills as he struggled to answer questions without assistance.
Very early in the game he had already used most of his lifelines, which meant he was stuck on one of the lower questions. Playing for £16,000 – where he set his safety net – Jools was asked: The ‘Football for Sale’ investigation by the Telegraph newspaper led to the sacking of which England manager?
The optional answers were Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Sam Allardyce. Jools worked through the answers and said, “Well, football isn’t really my specialty, but I remember Sven had to leave.
‘I don’t know if it was this. So I’m going to try to go with C, because I think I remember him having to leave. And that is my final answer.”
Unfortunately for Jools, Jeremy told the star guest that this was the wrong answer as he revealed Sam Allardyce was right. The musician lowered his head in disappointment when he realized he was out of the game.
Jeremy consoled the star, saying: “If it makes you feel better, I wouldn’t have known.” Jools responded saying, “Oh, well, that makes me feel better.”
He added: “Can I ask this – did anyone in the audience know?” The audience responded with a chorus of “yes.”
Despite the loss, Jools left the ITV quiz with £16,000 for his chosen charities. He played for The Princes Trust & Caring Hands.
Although he raised a respectable amount of money for his charities, fans on social media were less than impressed. One user wrote on
Another added: “Jools Holland appears disconnected from the real world here. #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire,” with a third saying: “A safety net at 16k Jules Holland is terrible in this game. #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire.”
“I expected more from #JoolsHolland… #whowantstobeamillionaire,” someone else commented, while someone else shared: “Wow. It’s a good job that Jools can play the piano well, because he’s damn useless here…. #whowantstobeamillionaire.”