Actual success, successful failure, and unsuccessful epic failure

On game shows, actual success denotes winning a lot of money and/or other prizes, whereas failure denotes losing horribly and winning little or no money or prizes. If the failure is relatively minor in severity, then it is declared to be a successful failure, but if the failure is particularly severe, then the internet often declares it to be an epic fail (grammatically incorrect noun), epic failure (grammatically correct noun), or to have fail(ed) epically (grammatically correct verb), which, in internet slang, is when something goes horribly wrong, and could have been prevented if the person who committed the failure had just done the right thing. On Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? specifically, losing horribly can mean one of two things, but before any type of failure can be defined, success must be defined first.

• On Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, actual success is generally defined as a contestant winning the monetary amount of question 10 (usually worth 32,000 units of the local currency) or greater and not subsequently losing the vast majority of his/her winnings on a much higher-level question. A great success is when a contestant wins either the top prize or the penultimate prize (usually worth 1,000,000 and 500,000 units of the local currency, respectively).

On the other hand, failure can be defined in two different variations: successful failure and unsuccessful epic failure. Each variation has two subtypes, for a total of four types of failures overall:

• A type 1 successful failure is when a contestant manages to get past the first milestone at question 5 (usually worth 1,000 units of the local currency), but then fails to get past the second milestone at question 10 (usually worth 32,000 units of the local currency), either by flunking out (giving a wrong answer to a question) or by walking away with the money.
• A type 2 successful failure is when a contestant manages to get past the second milestone at question 10, but then flunks out within questions 12-13 (usually worth 125,000 and 250,000 units of the local currency, respectively) and suffers a fairly extensive loss, but not quite severe enough for the loss to be declared outright devastating (usually 32,000 and 93,000 units of the local currency, respectively).
• A type 1 unsuccessful epic failure is when a contestant gives a wrong answer to one of the first 5 questions and leaves with absolutely nothing at all (see Wrong answer before first safe level) or, if the contestant runs out of lifelines, decides to walk away before the first save level (the latter of which is extremely rare).
• A type 2 unsuccessful epic failure is when a contestant gives a wrong answer to one of the last 2 questions and suffers a devastating, if not catastrophic, massive loss of prize money (usually 218,000 units of the local currency on question 14, and 468,000 units on question 15); in addition, losing on the 15th and final question results in the dreaded Million pound lose cue.

Keep in mind that not all Top Prize and Penultimate Prize Losses count as unsuccessful epic failures. Small-loss top prize and penultimate prize losers are top prize and penultimate prize losers who lose relatively small amounts of prize money compared to other top prize losers, either due to using a Jump the Question lifeline on the Shuffle Format, or setting the second safety net higher than normal on an adjustable high-risk format. A top prize or penultimate prize loss does not count as an unsuccessful epic failure unless all three of the following criteria are met:

• The contestant loses a massive amount of prize money (usually 468,000 units of the local currency, assuming that the second safety net is fixed at question 10 in a traditional format, or is set there in an adjustable high-risk format)
• The contestant loses a high percentage of prize money (at least 70% of their prize money must be lost in order to qualify as an unsuccessful epic failure; assuming that the second milestone is fixed at question 10, or is set there in an adjustable high-risk format, and that the Money Tree uses the classic UK amounts, contestants who flunk out on the penultimate question would lose roughly 87% of their winnings, and if they flunk out on the final question, they would lose roughly 93% of their winnings). (Note: Percentages are rounded down to the nearest whole number, without going over.)
• The contestant leaves with a relatively tiny consolation prize, or worse, in some cases, no consolation prize at all.

The generic term loser can refer to both contestants who leave with nothing by flunking out on one of the first 5 questions, as well as contestants who lose massive amounts of prize money by flunking out on one of the last 2 questions; the term top prize loser refers to contestants who flunk out on the 15th and final question and lose the most massive amounts of prize money; the term penultimate prize loser refers to contestants who flunk out on the 14th and penultimate (second-to-last) question and lose the second most massive amounts of prize money; the terms zeronaire, empty-handed loser, and, informally in the U.S. primetime era, llama, refer to contestants who flunk out within the first 5 questions and win nothing at all.

The average success level for any given contestant is achieving the monetary value for question 10, although some perform above average, and others perform below average. Some who reach the higher levels of the last 5 questions are lucky enough to get them right and win massive amounts of prize money, or if not, then they walk away, while others who go for it get it wrong and lose massive amounts of prize money. Others fare much worse, performing significantly below average and winning little or no prize money. If they're just lucky enough to get past question 5, they'll leave with at least something; if not, then they leave with nothing at all. Some contestants who are invited back to play again turn out to be extremely unlucky and lose horribly again in either manner multiple times. Other than plain and simple bad luck, additional explanations for why and how unlucky contestants have lost horribly are shown below. It should be noted, though, that some versions of the show worldwide have adopted a high-risk format that disables fixed safe-haven milestones, which means that a contestant can flunk out on the any of the next 10 questions and drop all the way down to the prize value for question 5, or even worse, in some cases, lose absolutely everything.

Contestants who have made it onto the show obviously must know some trivia, as the qualification process is extensively tough; in the earliest days of the show, contestants got onto the show via a landline phone call game, and if the player gave a wrong answer, the phone call would automatically be cut off. Later on, as internet technology advanced, they added an internet game, and just like the phone call game, as well as the actual game show, if the player gave a wrong answer, the game would end. Sometime after that, as cellular mobile phone technology advanced, the show added a mobile phone text game, which also ended immediately if the contestant gave a wrong answer, and sometime after that, the show also added auditions, in which potential contestants took printed exams, similar to students in academic high schools and colleges; unlike the phone, computer, and mobile text games, the printed exam does not terminate the contestant if they give just one wrong answer, but they must achieve a high score in order to get onto the show. Once they get onto the show, however, some contestants succeed, while others fail. Reasons for why this happens, other than plain and simple good or bad luck, are unknown.

Of course, it should be noted that what may be easy for most people may not be easy for other people, and what may be hard for most people may not be hard for other people. There have been cases in which some contestants have struggled within the first 5 questions, and wound up running out of lifelines early on in the game, but then, after their initial struggles, they have gone way up the money tree. The problem is, for any contestant for which this is the case, there is no room for error, so if they flunk out on what most people consider to be an easy question, they won't be able to make it to the harder questions later on in the game.

It should also be noted that losing horribly in either manner is considered to be extremely humiliating, and in the age of the modern day internet, any contestant who loses horribly in either manner is guaranteed to be uploaded to YouTube, where they will be harassed and cyberbullied mercilessly and endlessly by online users who will post nasty comments to their video.

In a more recent development, contestant casting selectivity standards are what determine the epic failure rate on any version of the show; historically, the U.S. version, particularly during the Regis Philbin primetime and Meredith Vieira syndicated eras, used to be notorious for both its Type 1 and Type 2 epic failures; hundreds of unlucky contestants left with nothing after they flunked out on one of the first 5 questions, and dozens of other unlucky contestants flunked out on one of the last 2 questions and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars; the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? 10th Anniversary Primetime Celebration is perhaps best known for a horrific incident that took place of the final episode of the event, in which Ken Basin made unwanted history by becoming the first contestant to flunk out on the $1,000,000 question and lost $475,000 as a result. With the 2020 Jimmy Kimmel primetime reboot, however, the producers are now much more selective about the way they cast contestants for the show, and as a result, epic failures are now much rarer and much less severe.

See Category:Empty-handed for a list of contestants who went away with nothing by flunking out on one of the first 5 questions. See Category:Empty-handed due to extra-high-risk format for a list of contestants who went away with nothing due to an extra high risk format. See Category:Penultimate question fail for a list of contestants who lost on the 14th and penultimate (second-to-last) question. See Category:Final question fail for a list of contestants who lost on the 15th and final question.

Causes of failure

There are two root causes of failure:

• Cause #1: No room for error - It only takes one wrong answer to terminate the contestant's game. The reason why the show gives contestants lifelines is to prevent them from committing an error, because once the contestant commits just one error, that's it; it's all over; they are out of the game instantly.
• Cause #2: All-or-nothing, high-stakes, high-risk gambling format - if a contestant gives just one wrong answer, not only are they out of the game, but they also lose most or all of their winnings. At the beginning of the game, there is no prize just for making it into the hot seat, so if a contestant gives a wrong answer within the first 5 questions, they leave with absolutely nothing at all. Questions 5 and 10 are (usually) fixed safe-haven milestones that guarantee the monetary amounts for those questions if the contestant gihave adopted a high-risk format that disables the second fixed safe-haven milestone in favor of an adjustable milestone, meaning that contestants can flunk out within the next 10 questions and drop all the way down to the prize value for question 5, or, even worse, if the local version of the show adopts an extra-high-risk format that disables both fixed milestones, if the contestant flunks out at any point in the game prior to reaching their selected adjustable milestone, they lose absolutely everything, and leave with nothing at all. As they progress through the game, the higher the stakes rise, and the higher the risks rise, with the losses becoming increasingly severe, both in terms of amounts and in terms of percentages, if they give a wrong answer the later they progress through the game. There are two critical danger zones within the game: the first 5 questions and the last 2 questions.
  • The first 5 questions are a critical danger zone because if the contestant flunks out on any of these questions, they leave with no prize money at all.
  • The last 2 questions are a critical danger zone because if the contestant flunks out on either the these last 2 questions, thy will lose hundreds of thousands of money units. Below is a rating index for the severity of losses for the last 5 questions, along with the percentages of money lost, using the classic UK amounts and the second fixed milestone at question 10 (Note: Percentages are rounded down to the nearest whole number, without going over.):
    • Question 11: £64,000 - No loss; the contestant stays at £32,000, with 0% loss in winnings
    • Question 12: £125,000 - Some loss; the contestant loses £32,000, or 50% of their winnings
    • Question 13: £250,000 - Extensive loss; the contestant loses £93,000, or roughly 74% of their winnings
    • Question 14: £500,000 - Devastating loss; the contestant loses £218,000, or roughly 87% of their winnings
    • Question 15: £1,000,000 - Catastrophic loss; the contestant loses £468,000, or roughly 93% of their winnings

It is these two rules, the lack of any room for error and the loss of all winnings when they give just one wrong answer, that have sentenced so many contestants to penniless, extremely costly, embarrassing exits from the show, eternal game show infamy, and a lifetime of humiliation on YouTube. On Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, there is no room for error; contestants must proceed very carefully, for just one error, just one careless mistake, can lead to extremely disastrous consequences. There is no consolation prize for any contestant who flunks out within the first 5 questions, and if the contestant flunks out within the last 2 questions, they will lose massive amounts of prize money. No careless mistake goes unpunished, either by the game itself or by the YouTube community, who will upload contestants unlucky enough to commit careless mistakes to the site and harass them with nasty comments. Thus, if the contestant screws up either very early or very late in the game, it could have extremely disastrous consequences.

In addition, below are the top 8 secondary reasons why contestants lose horribly on the show: counting down from 8 to 1:

• Reason #8: Because they misspoke or spoke too fast on an easy question
  • Example 1: Paul Weir Galm, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version), syndication

$100 (1 of 15) - Not Timed
Which of these phrases is a common way of saying "I can't take it anymore!"?
⬥ A: That's the last stick!	⬥ B: That's the last leaf!
⬥ C: That's the last straw!	⬥ D: I'm moving to Canada!

After Meredith read the joke answer, Paul said with no hesitation, "A: That's the last stick!, final answer," and realized his mistake when Meredith began to moan of disbelief. Paul then left with absolutely nothing. Total Prize Money: $0

• • Example 2: Lovi Yu, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version), syndication

Misspeaking and/or speaking too fast can be made even worse when the contestant is placed on an extremely tight time limit, as was the case in Lovi Yu's situation.

$500 (1 of 15) - 0:15 Time Limit
When attacked by predators, which of these animals will often activate a large gland known as an ink sac?
⬥ A: Cheetah	⬥ B: Squid
⬥ C: Owl	⬥ D: Paris Hilton

Lovi made C her final answer, but quickly realized afterwards that she chose the wrong one. The correct answer was B: Squid. Total Winnings: $0

• • Example 3: Jennifer Starks, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version), primetime

$300 (3 of 15) - Not Timed
Clothespins are designed to help with what household task?
⬥ A: Washing clothes	⬥ B: Drying clothes
⬥ C: Ironing clothes	⬥ D: Preventing snoring

Jennifer hastily made A her final answer, and realized shortly afterward that she accidentally gave the wrong choice. The correct answer was B: Drying clothes. Total Prize Money: $0

• • Example 4: Vassiliki Yiannoulis, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version), syndication

$4,000 (7 of 15) - Not Timed
Denny's restaurants offer a signature breakfast dish named after what sports term?
⬥ A: Slam dunk	⬥ B: Touchdown
⬥ C: Knockout	⬥ D: Grand slam

She meant to say answer D: Grand slam, but she spoke too fast, and accidentally finalized answer A: Slam dunk instead, which ultimately cost her the game. After she flunked out, despite saying she was okay, she was clearly emotional, as the pain was clearly visible on her face, and audible in her voice. Total Prize Money: $1,000

• • Example 5: Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng, Ai Là Triệu Phú - Ghế Nóng (Vietnam)

3,000,000₫ (3 of 15) - 15 seconds
Which of the following is the first sentence of the song "Giọt nắng bên thềm" by composer Thanh Tùng?
⬥ A: Em không đến chơi (You don't come by)	⬥ B: Hoa vẫn hồng (Rose is still red)
⬥ C: Chim vẫn hót (Bird is still singing)	⬥ D: Lâu lắm rồi (It's been a long time)

After the host read all the answers, she said with no hesitation: "D: Lâu lắm rồi, final answer,". When the host asked her to sing that song, she realized her mistake, which ultimately ended her game. Had she answer this question correct, and pass on the 4th question, Lê Văn Tuân (who appeared on the same episode) could have won the Top Prize. Thua cuộc: 0

• Reason #7: Because they did not read the question properly
  • Example 1: Stan Wu, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version), primetime

$1,000 (5 of 15) - Not timed
Which of the following is most closely related to a nectarine?
⬥ A: Orange	⬥ B: Apple
⬥ C: Peach	⬥ D: Strawberry

This is the question that first syndicated million dollar winner Kevin Smith was referring to when he was in the Ring of Fire that night. He, Stan, and Regis Philbin all misread the question as a "tangerine" instead of "nectarine," and that's why they all thought the answer was A instead of C. For that reason, he told Meredith Vieira to re-read him his top prize question. Total Prize Money: $0

• • Example 2: Whitney Beseler, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Hot Seat (Australia)

AU$100 (1 or 15) - 15 seconds
Which of these is not a piece of jewellery commonly worn to symbolise a relationship between two people?
⬥ A: Engagement ring	⬥ B: Anniversary ring
⬥ C: Wedding ring	⬥ D: Burger ring

Beseler did not read the question properly, and chose B: Anniversary ring as her final answer, but the correct answer was D: Burger ring, and she did not realize her mistake until it was too late. (Burger rings are an Australian snack food that resemble onion rings, but are designed to mimic the flavor of cheeseburgers.) After she flunked out, she admitted that it was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to her, and asked if she could start over. Host Eddie McGuire told her that there are no second chances on the show, and that she was out of the game, and gave her a bag of burger rings as a consolation prize. Total Prize Money: AU$0

• Reason #6: Because they second-guessed their instincts on a harder question
  • Example 1: Kati Knudsen, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version), primetime

$500,000 (14 of 15) - Not Timed
Which of the following is the most recent member of the United Nations?
⬥ A: Andorra	⬥ B: Czech Republic
⬥ C: Tonga	⬥ D: Palau

She was originally going to go for Tonga, but she second-guessed herself and went with Palau instead, which ultimately cost her $218,000. Total Prize Money: $32,000

• • Example 2: Jeff Tarr, Millionaire Hot Seat

AU$1,000,000 (15 of 15) - 45 seconds
Horowitz is the original surname of which American actor?
⬥ A: Matt Damon	⬥ B: Johnny Depp
⬥ C: Julia Roberts	⬥ D: Winona Ryder

Jeff was leaning towards A: Matt Damon and D: Winona Ryder. He was about to go with Winona Ryder, but, after realizing that he hadn’t answered option "A" in a while (since question 11), he decided to go with Matt Damon. Unfortunately, that answer is incorrect and his first instinct was correct. Total Prize Money: AU$1,000

• Reason #5: Because they could not think straight under pressure
  • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is not just a test of general knowledge, but also a test of one's ability to think straight under pressure, which is not easy when you're on television in front of a live studio audience, and with millions more watching at home. In addition, the rules of the game, which state that there is no room for error and that you lose all of your winnings if you give just one wrong answer put even more pressure on the contestant. The pressure of the game may sometimes cause contestants to forget the right answers to the questions that they are facing once they get into the hot seat. And in cases where a time limit is applied, the game also tests one's ability to think fast, because if they don't beat the clock, the game is over, and depending on the rules, they may either be forced to walk away with whatever winnings they have won, or be penalized as if they gave a wrong answer and have their winnings dropped.
  • Example 1: Gerry Lennon, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK version)

£250,000 (13 of 15) - Not Timed
What is a 'bichon frisé'? 'Ask the Audience', '50:50' and 'Phone-a-Friend' lifelines used
⬥ A: Dog	⬥ B: Lettuce
⬥ C: Wind	⬥ D: Muscle
Ask the Audience Results: A: 93% ⬥ B: 0% ⬥ C: 0% ⬥ D: 7%

Gerry decides he needs help. So he asks the audience and a surprisingly high 93% say it's a dog, he then goes 50:50 which left Dog and Wind, then he decides to phone his brother Harry who suggests dog. Still not convinced, Gerry takes the £125,000. If he went with the audience, he would have won £250,000. The correct answer was A: Dog. Total Prize Money: £125,000

• Reason #4: Because they pressed their luck by trying too hard to conserve Lifelines, or guessing randomly after they ran out of lifelines, until their luck eventually ran out
  • The nature of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is high-stakes, high-risk gambling, with no room for error; you must embark on a dangerous, treacherous path if you want to get to the top prize, and if you screw up just once at any point in the game, it's all over; you lose most or all of your winnings. The Lifelines are there to prevent you from committing an error, but in most cases, you only get three of them, and each lifeline can only be used once in the entire game. It is generally better to use a lifeline and be safe, than to guess blindly and be sorry, because if you're trying to conserve your lifelines, sometimes, that might not be a good idea either, because you could either flunk out very early in the game and win little or no prize money, or flunk out very late in the game and lose massive amounts of prize money. And when you run out of lifelines, as is the case with casino gambling, as well as other game shows in general, you need to know when enough is enough, so that you can walk away with the money.

• • Example 1: Martin Poteralski, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (U.S. version)

$1,000 (5 of 15) - Not Timed
In the TV series "Spin City," what position does Michael J. Fox's character hold at City Hall?
⬥ A: Mayor	⬥ B: Press Secretary
⬥ C: Deputy Mayor	⬥ D: Police Chief

Martin already asked the audience at $300 to help him identify the soda that was known as the "uncola," and didn't want to burn another lifeline before $1k. So he guessed B, but the answer was C, and he left with nothing. Total Prize Money: $0

• Reason #3: Because they were either too confident or not confident enough
  • Some contestants have gone into this show with either too much or too little confidence and wound up losing horribly because of it. On one hand, some contestants started out cocky and got humbled by flunking out prematurely, while others started out humble, but got cockier as their game progressed, until their luck eventually ran out, and they screwed up very late in the game, proving it to be an extremely costly error. On the other hand, other contestants didn't have enough confidence (or any confidence at all), and wound up doing extremely poorly, flunking out very early and leaving with little or nothing at all. When entering this show, you must balance confidence with humility at all times. And if you have no confidence at all, then you shouldn't even be on this show in the first place.

• Reason #2: Because they did not use their lifelines properly
  • Example 1: Ken Basin, Ask the Audience lifeline, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? 10th Anniversary Primetime Celebration

$1,000,000 (15 of 15) - 4:39 (0:45 + 3:54 banked time)
For ordering his favorite beverages on demand, LBJ had four buttons installed in the Oval Office labeled "coffee," "tea," "Coke" and what? "Ask the Audience" lifeline used.
⬥ A: Fresca	⬥ B: V8
⬥ C: Yoo-hoo	⬥ D: A&W
Ask the Audience Results: A: 15% ⬥ B: 12% ⬥ C: 40% ⬥ D: 33%

The Ask the Audience lifeline is generally only useful within the first 10 questions, and is generally no longer useful after question 10. This decision to rely fully on the audience's answer on the $1,000,000 question was the fatal mistake that ultimately cost him $475,000. According to Ken, he admitted that he should have used the Ask the Audience lifeline for $100,000 question instead of Double Dip, so he would use that for the $1,000,000 question, since he eliminated B: V8 and D: A&W and would have made A: Fresca his second choice, which would have won him $1,000,000. However, he said he might have also used the Double Dip for $500,000 instead of the $1,000,000. Total Winnings: $25,000

• • Example: Trần Thị Thu Hương, Phone-a-Friend lifeline, Ai Là Triệu Phú (Vietnam) 

10,000,000₫ (8 of 15) - Not timed
The Cuông temple in Diễn Châu (Nghệ An) had an altar of who? "Phone-a-Friend" lifeline used.
⬥ A: An Dương Vương	⬥ B: Triệu Việt Vương
⬥ C: Mai Hắc Đế	⬥ D: Quang Trung

She phoned her friend, who claimed that the right answer was Mai Hắc Đế, and he is 100% sure. Unfortunately, the right answer was A. However, this is not the only case where the Phone-a-Friend friends were wrong. One contestant in 2007 also in Vietnam lost ₫20,000,000 after answering the 13th question wrong after trusting his friend 100%.

 

Craig Logue is an example of someone who used all of their lifelines on 1 question in the wrong order. Though this was on the first series so the order of usefulness wasn't really known that well.

£1,000 (5 of 15) - Not Timed
Which of these cities is the furthest north? 'Phone A Friend', '50:50' and 'Ask The Audience' lifelines used
⬥ A: Bristol	⬥ B: Sheffield
⬥ C: Chester	⬥ D: Leeds
Ask the Audience Results: A: 0% ⬥ B: 26% ⬥ C: 0% ⬥ D: 74%

Craig did not know, so he decided to call his father Peter, who thought it was Sheffield, but was not sure. He then decided to use his 50:50, eliminating A and C. He then decided to Ask the Audience, from which the majority (74%) answered Leeds. He decided to go with the audience and won £1,000. If he had used Ask the Audience first, he might've been able to save his other lifelines for the £4,000 question, which, with no other lifelines remaining, made him walk away with only £2,000.

Trương Bình Nguyên, also from Vietnam, have done worse than Craig Logue. He is among one of the first in the Millionaire franchise to use 4 lifelines in one question.

6,000,000₫ (7 of 15) - Not timed
Who was the last king of the Mạc dynasty? "Ask the Audience", " The People Speak", "50:50" and "Phone a Friend" lifelines used.
⬥ A: Mạc Đăng Doanh	⬥ B: Mạc Mậu Hợp
⬥ C: Mạc Phúc Hải	⬥ D: Mạc Toàn
Ask the Audience Results: A: 52% ⬥ B: 28% ⬥ C: 8% ⬥ D: 12%

He asked the audience first, where 52% voted for A. He wasn't sure so he decide to use his "People Speak" lifeline. All 3 audience chose B (Which 28% of audience voted). He used his 50:50, which unexpectly removed A and B. Finally, he phoned his friend but it didn't help either. He then decided to lock in C, but right answer was, unfortunately, D.

Generally speaking, the correct order for using lifelines would be Ask the Audience first (for the first 10 questions), then Phone-a-Friend, and then 50:50.

Examples of improper usage of Phone-a-Friend and 50:50 lifelines are needed.

• Reason #1: Because they simply didn't know the answers
  • As UK host Chris Tarrant would always say when a contestant came dangerously close to flunking out within the first 5 questions and leaving with nothing, "the questions are only easy if you know the answers," and when a contestant does leave with nothing, he states that, "it was just such a shame that they did not know on that occasion." It's not that anyone who leaves with nothing is stupid; they just did not know the answers to the particular questions that they were presented with. At home, the at home viewing public may know the answers to the questions that the contestant on the show is facing, but once they get into the hot seat themselves, what they should know is the answers to the questions that they are presented with; what may be easy for some people may not be easy for other people. In a documentary for the show, Tarrant also states that "we all have gaps in our knowledge," but that the contestant should know as much as possible, even if they can't know absolutely everything, because again, the questions are only easy if you know the answers.

Impact of contestant casting selectivity standards on rates of success and failure

Success rates, notable successes, and how the show treats success around the world

• In terms of the number of Top Prize Winners, the Japanese version is the most successful version, with 38 top prize winners.
• The U.S. primetime version had 10 millionaires; the U.S. syndicated version had 3 millionaires. All of the millionaires were regular, ordinary contestants, and no celebrity contestant has ever won $1,000,000; the highest amount ever achieved by any celebrity contestant on the U.S. version is $500,000, which has occurred only three times in the primetime version and only once in the syndicated version. Generally, after a jackpot or near-jackpot win ($1,000,000 or $500,000), the host keeps the contestant in the hot seat to interview them about their thoughts on how their hot seat experience went.
• The UK version had 6 millionaires, excluding Charles Ingram, who “achieved” his £1,000,000 victory by cheating, and was stripped of his winnings. As with the U.S. version, all of the millionaires were regular, ordinary contestants; the highest amount ever achieved by any celebrity duo is £500,000, which occurred only once: Laurence and Jackie Llewellyn Bowen were the only celebrity duo to walk away with £500,000. It should be noted that when they went for the million, they originally got it wrong and lost £468,000, but were later given a second chance, because their original £1,000,000 question turned out to have a significant flaw, in that it was ambiguous, because it technically had two right answers. They decided not to risk it again and walked away with £500,000. It should also be noted that celebrities winning the top prize in any country are extremely rare; in most cases, the highest amount that any celebrity contestant usually achieves is the monetary value for question 14 (usually 500,000 units of the local currency). In any case, when a contestant won either £500,000 or £1,000,000, host Chris Tarrant kept the contestant in the hot seat for just a few minutes longer in order to interview them for their thoughts on how their game went.
• The original Australian version had 2 millionaires. On both occasions, host Eddie McGuire kept them in the hot seat to interview them about their experience.
• The current Hot Seat format Australian version has 1 millionaire so far; prior to that, the show went through 6 Top Prize Losers.
• The Indian version has 6 top prize winners.
• On the current Russian version, the top prize has been won 6 times.
• In Germany, there have been 16 top prize winners.

Failure rates, notable failures, and how the show treats failure around the world

• In terms of the number of Top Prize Losers, the Japanese version is equally as notorious for its type 2 failures as it is for its successes, because while many contestants have won on the final question, many others have lost on either the final question or the penultimate (second-to-last) question. Japan is also notorious for its type 1 failures as well; numerous other contestants have flunked out on one of the first 5 questions and left the show with nothing at all. In addition, with the new Super Millionaire format, there are no guaranteed sums, so contestants who gave a wrong answer at any point in the game left with absolutely nothing at all because of this new rule.
• On the UK version, failures of both types were extremely rare; only 8 contestants left the show with nothing, and only two contestants flunked out on the £500,000 question and lost £218,000; technically, no one has ever flunked out on the £1,000,000 question and lost £468,000, because the one time that it happened, which happened to celebrity contestants Laurence and Jackie Llewellyn Bowen, the question turned out to have a significant flaw, in that it was ambiguous, because it technically had two right answers. They were later invited back to play a second £1,000,000 question, and this time, they decided not to risk it again and walked away with £500,000. Regarding type 1 failures, fewer than 10 contestants actually left the show with nothing, but there were a significant number of other occasions when some contestants struggled within the first 5 questions and came dangerously close to flunking out and leaving with nothing. In either case, host Chris Tarrant would keep them in the hot seat for a few minutes longer to apologize for their experience not going so well and ask what went wrong before dismissing them.
• The U.S. version, particularly during the Regis Philbin primetime and Meredith Vieira syndicated eras, is notorious for both its type 1 and type 2 epic failures, especially the former; over 150+ contestants have flunked out within the first 5 questions and left with nothing, with a significant number of them having fallen at the very first hurdle. Type 2 failures were somewhat rarer son the syndicated version, but they have happened quite frequently on the primetime version; a smaller, but sizeable number of contestants, both on the primetime and the syndicated versions, have flunked out on the $500,000 question, and at the 10th anniversary celebration, Ken Basin made unwanted history by becoming the first contestant to flunk out on the $1,000,000 question. In all cases, the host would just apologize for their hot seat experience not going so well and then immediately dismiss the failed contestant afterwards.
  • The Jimmy Kimmel primetime reboot era, however, is much more selective when it comes to casting contestants, which is why epic failures are now much rarer and much less severe on this version of the show. Given that the regular contestants starting in Season 2 consist of essential workers and small business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the producers decided that the last thing they wanted was for any contestant, celebrity or regular, to flunk out on one of the first 5 questions, especially the $100 question (similar to the way Robby Roseman and Brian Fodera did in the classic primetime era), even if they were still guaranteed $32,000 regardless; the $32,000 minimum prize guarantee for celebrities, a carryover from the classic primetime era, along with the guest assistant rule from Season 1 of the 2020 primetime reboot, which allows contestants to bring "the smartest person they know" to assist them for the first 10 questions, were extended to essential workers and small business owners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The original Australian version produced the first recorded case of a celebrity contestant to win nothing, U.S. Survivor contestant Richard Hatch, who flunked out on his $500 question. Worldwide, cases of celebrity contestants winning nothing are extremely rare, but they have occasionally happened. On the U.S. primetime version, every celebrity contestant was guaranteed $32,000 regardless of their performance in the hot seat, and regardless if they even made it into the hot seat at all (because of this; the other celebrity contestants waiting in the Fastest Finger seats, as well as the previous celebrity contestants in the audience who had already finished their games, were allowed to assist the celebrity contestant currently playing in the hot seat, but only up to the $32,000 milestone), but outside the U.S., celebrities are not guaranteed any money for charity, meaning that it is possible for a celebrity to win nothing. Contestants who have won nothing internationally often have won nothing because of a new extra-high-risk format that disables both fixed safe-haven milestones; contestants flunking out within the first 5 questions are very rare. Domestically, within Australia, Hatch was the first of three $0 winners on the traditional format of the show. Host Eddie McGuire kept Hatch in the hot seat for a few minutes before dismissing him.
  • On the current Australian Hot Seat format of the show, flunking out within the first 5 questions became much more common, and there were 6 million dollar question losers who fell from $250,000 all the way down to just a measly $1,000, losing $249,000, leading to superstitions of a Hot Seat curse, before Edwin Daly finally broke the curse by giving the right answer to his $1 million question, ending the curse. In all cases, host Eddie McGuire keeps them in the hot seat for a few minutes before dismissing them.
  • On a recent special events edition of the Australian version of the show, which marked a return to the classic format, and featured essential workers, small business owners, and celebrities as contestants, the first contestant to sit in the hot seat, an essential worker named Manfrend Zabinskas, went home with nothing after he flunked out on his AU$1,000 question. On the U.S. version, all essential workers and small business owners are guaranteed $32,000 regardless of their performance on the show, but outside the U.S., similar to celebrities, essential workers and small business owners are not guaranteed any prize money at all; the minimum prize guarantee rule is exclusive only to the U.S. version.
• On the very first episode of the New Zealand version of the show, the very first contestant to sit in the hot seat, Courtney Washington, left with nothing after flunking out on her $500 question.
• On the Indian version, only two contestants have given a wrong answer to the final question, but many others have given a wrong answer to one of the first 5 questions.
• On the Russian version, a small number of contestants have flunked out on one of the first 5 questions, but with the new extra-high-risk format, in which there are no guaranteed sums, over 300+ contestants have left with nothing after flunking out within the next 10 questions.
• In Germany, only one contestant has ever given a wrong answer to the final question, and would end up leaving with only a measly €500, but a significant number of contestants have left with nothing due to the game's new extra-high-risk format. However, one notable contestant who flunked out within the first 5 questions was Tanja Fuß, who fell at the very first hurdle.
• In Vietnam, there were no top prize losers (as all contestant who reached the final question (minus the Hot Seat version) took the money), and only two contestants answered the penultimate question wrong, but 12 contestants (or even more) walked away with nothing at all. One notable case were Trần Ngọc Tuấn, who flunked out on the 1st question about Dragon Ball. Also, a big number of contestants in Vietnam struggled within the first 5 questions and came dangerously close to flunking out and leaving with nothing. One of the notable case in Saadi Salama, who blew up all three lifelines before reaching the first save haven.

Perceptions of failure

• In Japan, contestants who flunk out on one of the first 5 questions will often be laughed at by the in-studio audience, as well as by the at-home viewing public, believing that the contestant is stupid for not knowing the answer to that question. If the contestant flunks out on one of the last two questions, however, the audience may be more sympathetic.
• In the United Kingdom, the in-studio audience will often be sympathetic to the contestant, regardless of whether they flunk out on the first 5 questions or the last 2 questions.
• In the United States, the in-studio audience will usually be sympathetic, but the at-home viewing public will be mercilessly nasty; they will upload the contestant's humiliating moment of failure to YouTube, where their victim will be mocked, ridiculed, insulted, taunted, laughed at, and harassed by online users who will post nasty comments to their video and refer to these contestants as "stupid idiots" and other lack-of-intelligence-based pejorative names, simply because they did not know the answers to the particular questions that they were presented with.
• In Australia, the in-studio audience will laugh at the contestant if they flunk out on one of the first 5 questions, but if the contestant flunks out on one of the last two questions, the in-studio audience will usually be more sympathetic. Either way, however, the at-home viewing public will be merciless, by uploading them to YouTube and harassing them with nasty comments, similar to the U.S. version.
• In Vietnam however, unlike many countries, the run of contestants who flunk out on one of the first 5 questions will not be shown on TV at all. This is to prevent at-home viewing public from harassing them with nasty comments online. However, some contestants who do poorly than average such as using lifelines on the 1st question (Ex. Phạm Thị Quyên), or not knowing an answer to a ridiculously easy question (In Vietnam, the first 5 questions are super easy, and all the contestants who get to the hot seat (with some exception) are guaranteed to win at least ₫2,000,000 (₫1,000,000 before 2012)) are guaranteed to be uploaded to YouTube (earlier Facebook), where they will be harassed and cyberbullied mercilessly and endlessly by online users who will post nasty comments to their video. The Phạm Thị Quyên affair brought the show down in views for many months.

Tips for success and how to avoid failure

If you previously wanted to get onto the show, but later decided against it because you've seen too many clips on YouTube of contestants failing epically, as well as all of the harassing comments that those contestants have received, and you don't want to risk suffering the same fate, please know that there are ways that you can avoid such catastrophic failures. Below are the top 8 biggest tips that every future potential contestant should put to good use before they go onto the show, counting down from 8 to 1:

• Tip #8: Don't speak too fast

Even in cases when contestants are placed on a strict, tight time limit, they should still not speak too fast, because if they do, they might accidentally blurt out a wrong answer. A number of contestants have lost because they accidentally blurted out a wrong answer too fast.

• Tip #7: Read the question properly

A number of contestants have lost because they misread the question, mistaking one word for another. When the question is presented to you, make sure that you read the question properly, exactly as it is written out in front of you.

• Tip #6: Don't second-guess your instincts

Sometimes, your initial instincts might be right. A number of contestants have lost because they overthought the question, causing them to second-guess their initial instincts and go with an incorrect answer, which proved to be very costly.

• Tip #5: Be sure that you can think straight under pressure

Remember that Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is not just a test of general knowledge trivia; it is also a test of your ability to think straight under pressure. And in cases in which you are placed up against a clock, you must also be able to think fast, but don't think too fast, or you might accidentally blurt out a wrong answer.

• Tip #4: Don't push your luck too much by trying too hard to conserve your Lifelines, or guessing randomly after you run out of lifelines

Remember that the nature of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is high-stakes, high-risk gambling, with no room for error. A number of contestants have lost because they either tried too hard to conserve their lifelines, or kept guessing randomly after they ran out of lifelines, until their luck eventually ran out. It is generally better to use a lifeline and be safe, than to guess randomly and be sorry, and when you run out of lifelines, as is the case with casino gambling, as well as other game shows in general, you need to know when enough is enough, so that you can walk away with the money.

• Tip #3: Always balance confidence with humility at all times

Balancing confidence with humility is extremely important on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, especially since there's no room for error. If you begin the game with too much confidence, you will receive quite the comeuppance: you will flunk out very early and leave with nothing at all. If you start out humble, but get cockier as your game progresses, eventually, your luck will run out, causing you to screw up and commit an extremely costly error. Conversely, if you begin the game with too little confidence, you will also flunk out very early and leave with nothing. And if you have no confidence at all, then don't even bother trying out for this show in the first place.

• Tip #2: Use your Lifelines properly

The Ask the Audience lifeline is best used only within the first 10 questions, and generally stops being useful after question 10, because the last 5 questions are typically the hardest and most obscurely trivial in nature. In the majority of cases, when a contestant asks the audience within the last 5 questions, the audience is usually wrong, or the results would be spread out. If the results are spread out, or the answer that got the most votes does not get the majority of the votes, generally, you should not take their advice.

When using the Phone-a-Friend lifeline, if your friend is not at least 70% sure of the answer, you should not take his or her advice.

When using the 50:50 lifeline, if it does not leave you with a clear choice, you should not go for it.

• Tip #1: Make sure that you know your general knowledge trivia, and practice before you go onto the show

Before you decide to go on the show, you sure make sure that you know your general knowledge trivia, and in order to keep your mind sharp, practice before you get onto the show by playing the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? online game (or DVD game, computer game, video game, etc.).

Trivia and Notes

• In internet slang, due to an internet meme, the word fail is often used as a nominalized interjectory noun, as opposed to a verb, the way the word is traditionally supposed to be used; traditionally, the word fail denotes being unsuccessful or falling short of expectations, but as an internet meme, it is used as a derisive label to slap on a miscue that is eminently mockable in its stupidity or wrongheadedness. Writing packed with nominalizations is commonly regarded by academic professionals as slovenly, obfuscatory, pretentious or merely ugly. The grammatically correct form of "epic fail," without nominalization, as stated by the second New York Times article, is "to fail to an epic degree," although "epic failure" and "to fail epically" are also grammatically acceptable as a proper noun and a proper verb, respectively. When the words failure and to fail are used in the grammatically proper manner, a failure is a noun that refers to a stupid miscue, while to fail is a verb that refers to the act of committing a stupid miscue. The word flunk is a synonym for the word fail as the word is traditionally used, and is generally used when taking exams, tests, or quizzes. Flunk out was the term used by the primetime version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? to denote when a contestant gave a wrong answer and was not saved by the 5th grade classmate; on the syndicated version, the penalty for giving a wrong answer was to lose all of the money that they had currently won up to that point, but unlike the primetime version, the contestant still remained in the game to win more money as long as there were further questions in the main phase of the game. The opposite of failing in internet slang, is not succeeding or passing, but winning. The words fail and failure should typically only be used when falling short of expectations in achieving an objective or goal, or when taking an exam or test; when playing a game, the grammatically correct words would be to lose, as verb, or a loss, as a noun. The term win can be used as both a verb and a noun, but it should only be used when playing a game or competition in which a prize or award is at stake; in this case, since this is a game show, the word win can be used; otherwise, when not playing a game, the word win should not be used; instead, the words success and succeed should be used when accomplishing goals and tasks, the word pass should be used when taking a test or exam, and the word gain should be used when acquiring advantages or increasing quantity. In addition, FAIL is also a notable acronym that stands for First Attempt In Learning, and is used by school teachers in order to encourage students who are struggling academically to strive to improve their grades. The term successful failure denotes a failure in which a person falls short of their expectations, but learns from their experience, and improves, or when something goes wrong during an attempt at accomplishing a goal, but in the process, another goal is successfully accomplished nonetheless. The term was coined by NASA following the Apollo 13 mission to the moon in 1970, in which NASA was forced to abort the moon landing following a malfunction within the space capsule that the astronauts were riding in, but the mission control was successfully able to bring all three astronauts onboard back to Earth alive.
• Using the word fail as a nominalized interjectory noun is also a form of schadenfreude, which is taking joy in other people's misfortunes. The word schadenfreude is a German language loan word that literally translates into "harm-joy" in English. In the age of the modern day internet, on YouTube and many other social media websites, there seems to be a lot of schadenfreude on the internet, based on the comments on YouTube and other social media websites in reaction to people who have failed epically on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and other game shows, as well as people who have failed or otherwise had bad days in general. A synonym for schadenfreude is epicaricacy, a word derived from an Ancient Greek word that literally means "joy upon evil", and has the same meaning as schadenfreude. Note that the first four letters of the word epicaricacy spell the word epic; the word epic, which is often used on the internet as an adjective that loosely means, "very great and grand", is often used in conjunction with the word fail, as in "epic fail".
• Many members of the YouTube community who harass contestants for losing horribly in either manner on the show tend to refer to the contestants as "stupid, foolish, retarded idiots" and other pejorative insulting names, but don't seem to know what these words really mean. Just because a contestant does not know the answer to a particular question, not matter how easy or hard it may be, does not make them stupid; they just simply did not know the answer to that particular question. In a documentary about the show, Chris Tarrant states that "we all have gaps in our knowledge," but when a person gets a seemingly easy question wrong, or guesses incorrectly on a harder question, even if their guess is an educated guess, other people tend to immediately jump to conclusions and tend to write them off as being stupid or foolish. This mistake is known in the field of social psychology as the fundamental attribution error - when people place undue emphasis on internal characteristics of the agent (character or intention), rather than external factors, in explaining other people's behavior; or, in other words, the tendency to believe that what people do reflects who they are. They also don't seem to know the difference between naiveté, stupidity, and mental retardation. People who are naïve aren't necessarily stupid. People who are stupid aren't necessarily retarded. Naiveté, or unintentional ignorance, means that the person simply didn't know any better; stupidity can either mean intentional ignorance, which means that they did know better, but decided to commit the mistake anyway, or foolishness or insanity, which means not learning from one's past mistakes and repeating the same mistakes over and over again; mental retardation is when a person is literally unintelligent. The terms idiot, moron, and imbecile were originally formal terms that referred to people whose intelligence quotients (IQ) were below 25, 50, and 75, respectively, but then they became pejorative names for people who made stupid mistakes. The collective term for all three is retarded, which comes from the Latin retardare, "to delay", which meant that their mental development was delayed, but then that too became a pejorative term. It should also be noted that people can have mental disabilities and not be retarded, and that if a person really was retarded, logistically, they wouldn't even be on this show in the first place. Just because a contestant flunks out on any given question, regardless of its difficulty level, does not make them stupid; they just didn't know the answer to that particular question, and as Chris Tarrant always said, the questions are only easy if the contestant actually knows the answers. What may be easy for most people may not be easy for other people, and what may be hard for most people may not be hard for other people. There have been cases in which some contestants have struggled within the first 5 questions, and wound up running out of lifelines early on in the game, but then, after their initial struggles, they have gone way up the money tree. The problem is, for any contestant for which this is the case, there is no room for error, so if they flunk out on what most people consider to be an easy question, they won't be able to make it to the harder questions later on in the game.