Millionaire Hot Seat: Jeremy Clarkson's new fast-paced Who Wants to be a Millionaire? spin-off

Millionaire Hot Seat is a fast-paced, tactical twist on the classic format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, the show places six contestants in a rotating ‘hot seat’, demanding quick thinking, strategy and composure under pressure.

Doncaster-born Clarkson tells us about the programme, due to air on ITV this month.

When they approached you to be the host of Millionaire Hot Seat, what was your reaction?

I have got nine jobs already, so I don’t really need to do it, and it’s obviously another quiz – but they sent me the Australian version, and I watched it once, and I thought, ‘Yes, this can work’.

How would you describe Millionaire Hot Seat?

It’s a very expensive game of musical chairs! You can be the most brilliant player and go home with nothing, or you can be useless – and this happened the other day – and go home with the prize. Only one person wins, and it is down to who is lucky enough to be in that chair at the end.

The prize is fantastic! Let’s talk about some of the big wins. We gather several have walked away with £100k…

Yes, one lady was lovely. And what was lovely to see is when she won the £100k, there were two other contestants who were unfortunately not going to win anything despite contributing greatly to the £100k, but they still said afterwards, ‘She was such a lovely lady. We are glad she has won it’. They both were entitled to feel aggrieved, but they didn’t.

What do you love about this programme?

It’s fast-paced, but what’s important is you still have time to answer the questions. It’s not like some of the other TV quizzes where they are answering as quickly as possible.

Are the contestants more nervous because Millionaire Hot Seat is a new show?

I think they are, as they don’t really know what they are doing! But there is this incredible nuance, and the viewers will pick up on this, of a decision to really help your fellow contestants or not. You can be incredibly selfish or very generous. If you are generous by using a pass rather than answering the question incorrectly – and in doing so, the prize money will go down – you are sacrificing the opportunity to win big. I love watching how human nature works and if they land their fellow contestants in the soup or not.

Are you more relaxed because they don’t have the option of asking you for help with a lifeline?

No, I have so much to remember. You really do have to be on your toes.

Can Millionaire Hot Seat be as big as Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Yeah, I think this could be big. I could be wrong, but I have got a gut feeling about it.

The money is great too…

Yes, the prize is still a million. Someone can win a million in a half-hour show – amazing.

Thanks to Millionaire, you have now got a new generation of fans…

What was interesting is I went into Chelsea Harbour the other day. Now in the past, nobody would have paid me any attention. But I’m now getting mobbed in there. Do I mind? No! It’s the women. I have never particularly had women fans before – now I have.

Is there anything left on your bucket list?

No. I don’t have a bucket list. Listen, I have driven a Lancia Montecarlo over Victoria Falls on a railway track, and I have driven to the North Pole. I have also dropped a laser-guided bomb from an F-15 fighter jet and been to every country in the world that I want to – so what would I possibly write on a bucket list that I haven’t done?!