Chris Tarrant says ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionare’ won’t be remade because TV bosses are skint.
The 70-year-old presenter has admitted bosses have run out of options to bring the beloved quiz show back because there’s not enough money to make contestants rich and insisted the format wouldn’t work even if the prize pot was reduced.
Chris – who fronted the show for 16 years – said: "The biggest problem is it was about making someone a millionaire. It’s got to be that sort of money.
"You can’t call it ‘Who Wants To Win £50’. It wouldn’t work. You couldn’t even change it to £100,000, it wouldn’t be the same. So it’s a very expensive show to make. What’s interesting is that now there is no programme that gives away more than about £5000."
The show – which pulled in 19 million viewers at its peak – transformed people off the street into wealthy folk and even had celebrities like the late George Michael, Sir Paul McCartney and Simon Cowell playing to win big for charities.
Chris added to the Daily Star newspaper: "It was a brilliant format… but to go back to giving away big money the TV companies would have to be very very sure it was going to be a big show.
"We’d done every celebrity you could have on without having a reality people on. And you don’t want to start doing that because they’re not very intelligent. We had Simon Cowell, Sir Paul McCartney and George Michael. The list was incredible."
Ever since Chris underwent life-saving surgery three years ago after he developed a blood clot while on an 11-hour flight from Bangkok to London, he’s wound down his work commitments and says he wouldn’t front the show again.
He said: "They could do it with a new young host.
"We all agreed we’d all had enough… it still airs all around the world. I’m on somewhere in the world every day. The repeats go on and on."
Chris Tarrant: No cash for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire reboot
