This is a rare occurrence in the show, when a contestant walks away before the first safe level, usually question 5, usually to avoid risking losing all their money and leaving empty handed.
In the UK, two people have done that, but, one of them was stripped of their winnings for having a criminal record. If Emma North had walked away and hadn't gotten the £1,000 question wrong because she'd used all her lifelines on questions 3 & 4, there would have been three people in the UK to walk away before the £1,000 safe level.
In the U.S., Michelle Glover broke the record of the lowest amount of money to walk away with ($300), not including $0. Also, Sargon de Jesus on October 2, 2009, ran out of time on his $5,000 question, and walked away before the first safe level with $3,000, although he is not included in this club because he didn’t decide to walk away from question 5, he just ran out of time.
In Hong Kong, this wasn’t so rare at all, having at least 26 contestants to join this elite. However, what’s rare is that Common Wong broke the record for the lowest amount of money to walk away with (HK$2,000), not including HK$0.
Cheryl Turner[]
Cheryl Turner, after using all her lifelines, walked away on the £1,000 question on the UK Christmas Special.
Sheridan Booth[]
Sheridan Booth also walked away on question 5, but his prize was later stripped from him, after criminal convictions were uncovered. This episode has been repeated on Challenge. He was one of only four UK contestants who were stripped of their winnings.
Chan Yiu Ming and Chen ?[]
Chan Yiu Ming and Chen ? both walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000 each. They are the first two contestants outside the United Kingdom to join this elite.
Tong Wai Cheung[]
Tong Wai Cheung fared worse than the other two, when he walked away on question 4 and won HK$3,000.
Kenneth Chan[]
Kenneth Chan walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000. He became the only host to join this elite.
Leung Wai Ning and Cheung Hoi Lun[]
Leung Wai Ning and Cheung Hoi Lun walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000.
Michelle Glover[]
Michelle Glover walked away on question 4 and won $300 on the syndicated U.S. version of Millionaire. She is the first contestant to walk away before the first safe level in the U.S., and the first contestant outside Hong Kong to walk away on question 4.
Josef Král[]
Josef Král from Czech Republic walked away on question 5 and won 5,000 Kč.
?[]
? from Costa Rica walked away on question 5 and won ₡400,000.
Ville Karpio[]
Ville Karpio from Finland walked away on question 5 and won €700.
Maarit Soukka[]
Maarit Soukka from Finland walked away on question 4 and won €500.
Tsui Wai Kin, Ng Chi Kit, and Wong Wing Yin[]
Tsui Wai Kin, Ng Chi Kit, and Wong Wing Yin all walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000 each.
Common Wong[]
Common Wong fared worse than the previous fourteen contestants, when he walked away on question 3 and won HK$2,000.
Joseph Tse and Jacky Lai[]
Joseph Tse and Jacky Lai both walked away on question 4 and won HK$3,000 each.
Vincent Tsui[]
Vincent Tsui, and Dicky Lo both walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000 each.
Erica Yan[]
Erica Yan walked away on question 4 and won HK$3,000.
Kevin Ho and Torres Wong[]
Kevin Ho and Torres Wong both both walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000 each.
Lee Kit Ying and Cyrus Tsui, Lam Chor Ching and Ricky Wong, and Raymond Cheung and Jenny Chan[]
Lee Kit Ying and Cyrus Tsui, Lam Chor Ching and Ricky Wong, and Raymond Cheung and Jenny Chan all walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000 each on the couples edition.
Angus Ng and Monica Chiu[]
Angus Ng and Monica Chiu and Chan Tak Wah and Chan Tak Chung both walked away on question 4 and won HK$3,000 each on the couples edition.
Pong Hei Keung and Pong Hiu Yan and Yung Ka Wai and Yung Ting Chi[]
Pong Hei Keung and Pong Hiu Yan, Yung Ka Wai and Yung Ting Chi, and Wong Man Ching and Lee Pui Ying all walked away on question 5 and won HK$4,000 each on the couples edition.
Inka Järvinen[]
Inka Järvinen from Finland walked away on question 5 and won €700.
Leung Ka Kit and Cheung Yi Man[]
Leung Ka Kit and Cheung Yi Man walked away on question 4 and won HK$3,000 on the couples edition.
Jayanti Mitra[]
Jayanti Mitra from India (Bengali version) walked away on 5th question and won Rs. 5,000.
Brooke Flemming[]
Brooke Flemming is second contestant in US version, who walked away on her 5th question and won $3,000 (first was Michelle Glover, who walked away on 4th question and won $300).
Benjamín Sosa[]
Benjamín Sosa from Argentina walked away on 5th question and won $20.000.