![Stellify Media Who Wants To Pe A Millionaire?: SR39: Ep1 on ITV1 Pictured: Jeremy Clarkson This photograph is (C) Stellify Media/Sony and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms For further information please contact: liberty.warner@itv.com](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/SEI_291738761-578b.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The countdown is on for the next season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? – with new episodes on their way very soon.
It’s now been 28 years since the first season of the game show hit screens. Initially hosted by Chris Tarrant, he was at the helm of 592 episodes over 20 seasons before it wrapped up in 2014.
However, four years later it was officially revived after a series of specials hosted by Jeremy Clarkson proved so popular that ITV decided to bring it back as a full season.
Created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill, the series has been called one of the best TV series’ of all time, whilst the format has also been adopted in several other countries.
Since Jeremy took over hosting, there’s been an additional 11 seasons and specials of the show.
After the most recent episodes aired in May last year, more are on their way this month.
Today ITV announced that viewers are set to see ‘one of the most dramatic’ seasons ever, with at least one contestant winning the £1 million top prize.
Not one, but two contestants will make it all the way to the £1 million question, placing them just one answer away from winning the show’s ultimate prize and a life-changing sum of money.
Winning £1 million on Who Wants to be A Millionaire? remains an exceptionally rare achievement, with only six contestants in the show’s UK history having taken home the top prize.
Only one of these has been during Jeremy’s tenure too.
But as ITV has teased: ‘The tension doesn’t stop there, with one contestant dramatically losing £186,000 in a single moment – one of the biggest losses in the show’s history – ma king season 36 one of the most suspenseful runs the show has delivered in years.’
The ‘nail-biting’ new episodes will see contestants once again attempt to climb the famous Million Pound Money Ladder, using their lifelines – Ask the Audience, 50:50, Ask the Host and Phone a Friend – in a bid to secure life-changing winnings.
Whilst details of the contestants and their gameplay are being kept tightly under wraps, viewers will be left on the edge of their seats wondering whether one or more contestants will join the elite group of contestants who have won the coveted £1 million prize in the show’s UK history.
The new run begins with a ‘gripping’ opening episode that sets the tone for a season packed with tension, high-stakes decisions and unforgettable moments.
Although Jeremy has come face to face with contestants experiencing massive highs and lows while competing on the series over the years – he once explained why he had no desire to ever comfort them.
The 65-year-old host has revealed he doesn’t like hugging the contestants in any circumstances, including if they win the jackpot, because it is ‘too intimate’ and his ‘genitals are perilously close to theirs’.
He even stays away from kissing people as a greeting, saying it’s a ‘nightmare’ to do so just in case he ends up kissing the wrong part of someone’s face.
‘I don’t really like hugging other men. There’s always a sense that my genitals are perilously close to theirs, and I really, really don’t like it when they move in for a kiss, which sometimes happens as well,’ he told The Daily Star in 2022.
He went on to say he ‘especially’ doesn’t like hugging women.
‘It’s too intimate and there’s always a danger that they’re going to report you to the police. Especially if you’ve only just met them in a park.’
Jeremy added that the ‘nightmare of the kiss on each cheek’ is something he ‘often’ manages to get wrong.
‘Some women think this should be an air kiss and tilt their heads way over to the side, but I always take this to mean they didn’t even want the gesture of a kiss, which makes me all stammery and nervous when we start talking.
‘Then you have those who swivel their heads too far round, so you end up kissing an ear, which is so unnerving I usually raise my head too quickly and knock their hat off,’ he continued, next recalling ‘the ones who turn their heads too slowly,’ which means the second kiss lands on their lips and not their other cheek.
He then explained that he ‘always’ tells the Who Wants to be A Millionaire contestants beforehand that he ‘will not be embracing or kissing them.’ ‘They’re going to get a handshake and that’ll be that,’ he declared.
Who Wants to be A Millionaire? returns to ITV later this April.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.