Stephen Fry wins £250,000 on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire… thanks to Jeremy Clarkson

Sir Stephen Fry has bagged £250,000 in the hot seat on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?… with no small thanks to the help of Jeremy Clarkson.

The former QI presenter, 67, appeared on the celebrity edition of the ITV gameshow, alongside comedian Richie Anderson and athlete Jeanette Kwakye.

Unwilling to risk the £500,000 question on a guess, Sir Stephen decided to walk away with a cool quarter of a million—emerging as the highest-scoring celebrity since Richard Madeley managed £125,000 in 2022.

However, Sir Stephen didn’t do so alone, as he had assistance from host Jeremy, 64, on the big question.

All above board, of course. When the show was revived in 2018 with the former Top Gear presenter as quizmaster, it came with a new lifeline—a ‘meet the host’ option.

This came in very useful when Sir Stephen’s knowledge of European geography was tested, charting a course to a quarter of a million pounds.

‘Walking in a straight path from Paris to Berlin, which of these major European cities would you come close to?’, Jeremy asked a bemused Sir Stephen.

Confronted with four options, Brussels, Strasbourg, Munich and Luxembourg City, he decided to defer to the well-travelled gentleman sitting before him.

And while Jeremy was far from certain, between them, they managed to work their way to the correct answer of Luxembourg City.

‘Jeremy is very encouraging, and he was great with the question that took me to a quarter of a million,’ Sir Stephen said in a statement via PA Wire.

He continued: ‘It was a geographical question, and you had to work it out. Jeremy has travelled so much, particularly in the area that the question was about.’

‘He and I kind of agreed that it was one of two answers, and I thought, “I am going to risk it,” and fortunately, it was right.’

Of utilising the ‘act the host’ lifeline, Sir Stephen said: ‘This lifeline is a tremendous addition to the show. If Jeremy doesn’t know, he will say but he will take you through the thinking, and it slows things down.

‘Once you start getting to the high numbers, you don’t want to let the charity down,’ he added.

Sir Stephen was representing the mental health charity Mind, which he has been president of since 2011.

Unfortunately, Sir Stephen became unstuck in the very next question, which asked: ‘Which of these cover songs entered the UK Top 40 the longest time after the original version first charted?’

Confronted with the options Tragedy by Steps, Jonas Blue and Dakota’s Fast Car, Uptown Girl by Westlife, and Killing Me Softly With His Song from the Fugees, the actor opted to phone a friend.

A pointless gesture, ultimately, as House of Games host Richard Osman proved to be of no use, leaving Sir Stephen floundering.

Rather than risk the £250k he’d already bagged, the screen star decided to call it a day. A shame, as his guess – Jonas Blue feat. Dakota – would have been the correct one.

Still, this beat his previous winning score of £125,000, which he won along with TV chef Nigella Lawson during their 2005 team-up on the show’s original iteration.

Elsewhere, Sir Stephen was joined by Jeanette, 41, and Richie, 37, who found themselves in the unenviable position of following him in the chair.

Olympic sprinter Jeanette was eliminated after failing to identify retinol as the main form of Vitamin A, but bagged a respectable £16,000 on her way out.

Meanwhile, comedian Richie tapped out at £8,000, failing to reach his £16k safety net after being asked which unit of volume is the largest between a centilitre, kiloliter, millilitre, and deciliter.

Employing both 50/50 and Phone a Friend (or Dad) was no use either, and Richie took the money and ran (the answer is kiloliter, for the record).

Celebrity Masterchef contestant Richie previously baffled viewers by making his way to the final two on The Weakest Link with a similarly clueless performance, ultimately being beaten by Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt.

Future episodes will see TV presenter Steph McGovern, Strictly judge Anton Du Beke, and former Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh join Jeremy for a chance to win a million.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? airs on Sundays on ITV1 and ITVX.

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