History
Rumours about a new shortened version of ''Millionaire'' first began circulating in February 2009 after a man named Nicholas Sherridan was the 1st winner of the million dollars and Eddie McGuire had called him out for cheating in the game show and were confirmed when the Nine Network produced a pilot version of the format titled ''Millionaire: Russian Roulette'' in March 2009. The official title was announced as ''Millionaire Hot Seat'', but this was later shortened to simply ''Hot Seat''. The new format was originally promoted as a short-run series, with advertisements featuring McGuire exclaiming "20 nights! 20 million dollars!" It was announced on 7 April 2009 that ''Hot Seat'' would begin airing on 20 April 2009 in the – weeknight timeslot and would compete against the high-rating game show, ''Format
Hot Seat Play
Designed to be a faster-paced format compared to the traditional ''Millionaire, Hot Seat'' sees six contestants all playing in a single game. The player in Seat 1 starts as the active player (the one in the “hot seat”) and play rotates around in seat order, with players aiming to be in the “hot seat” for the final question of the game. The game starts with a top prize of $1 million, but as players provide incorrect answers, the top prize moves one step down the money tree to a minimum of $10,000. There is a single safe level set at $1,000 after 5 correct answers, meaning the player in the hot seat for the final question can leave with either $1,000 or the highest remaining prize amount. Each question is given a time limit: 15 seconds for questions 1-5, 30 seconds for questions 6-10, and 45 seconds for questions 11-15. The timer starts after McGuire reads the question and the four possible answers. Answers are confirmed by saying “lock it in” or “final answer”. Each player has access to only a single lifeline: the Pass. When used, the active player moves to the back of the line and the question passes to the next player in line. This player must answer the current question and cannot pass it further. If the timer expires and the player still has their Pass, it is automatically used. If the player answers incorrectly, or the timer expires and they have already used their Pass, the player is eliminated, and the next player becomes the active player, with the top prize moving down the money tree. Unlike the traditional format, there is no option for players to walk away with the current money earned, meaning they must answer every question given. The game continues until all players have been eliminated, or the final question has been answered. If the active player answers the final question correctly, they win the value of that question. If the final question is incorrectly answered, or the final player is eliminated, the active player wins $1,000, provided they have reached the safe level. Any players who do not get an opportunity to be the active player are invited back to play another game at a later date.Variations
During the second half of 2011, audio and visual questions were introduced to the format. Either an audio or a visual question would be asked once per episode, usually towards the beginning of the game. During 2015, the "Switch" lifeline was added for contestants on the final question. This allowed the contestant to switch to a different question if they were unhappy with it. This feature was soon dropped on 8 May 2015, but was brought back for a week of episodes from 21 to 25 September of the same year. Later in 2015, the "Ask a Friend" lifeline was added in for contestants. Similar to the traditional "Phone a Friend" lifeline, the contestant is able to ask their designated friend or family member in the audience to help them answer the question. Before the player can use the lifeline, they must answer three consecutive questions after the $1000 'safe level'. The feature was added for a week of episodes from 14 to 18 September 2015.2017–present
Starting 23 January 2017, In response of the continued strong ratings of Seven's '' The Chase Australia'' since 2016, Nine's Millionaire Hot Seat changed its format to mix both the traditional format with the Hot Seat format. In this format, the show was lengthened to a full-hour show as opposed to half an hour show and is divided into two parts: Fastest Finger First and Hot Seat. In this version of Fastest Finger First, the six contestants are given fifteen questions, aiming to answer as many correctly in the fastest time. The round is played similar to the original format of FFF, where there is a question presented with four possible answers and the contestant must lock in the singular answer to the question. (This is different from the second version of Fastest Finger First where the contestants had to put the four possible choices into a designated order.) Players in this version are only give 10 seconds to lock in an answer compared to 20 seconds in the traditional format. Additionally, there is normally one audio and one visual question within the question set. The winner of this segment is the player with the most correct answers, with ties being broken by the lowest combined time taken to lock in. This player is awarded a cheque for $1,000, which they may keep or cash in during the main game in exchange for a lifeline. The game then moves into the Hot Seat round, beginning with the player in Seat 1 (regardless of performance in Fastest Finger First). Play in the Hot Seat round proceeds as normal until the winner of Fastest Finger First becomes the active player. In addition to the Pass lifeline, the player may exchange their $1,000 cheque for one of the following lifelines: * 50/50 – the computer randomly selects two incorrect answers and removes them from play, leaving the correct answer and one incorrect answer. * Switch – the current question is removed from play and is replaced with a new question of similar difficulty. * Ask a Friend – similar to the traditional Phone a Friend lifeline. The player is able to converse with their in-audience companion (if one is present) and work together to answer the question. When used, the question and the four possible answers are read out by the player, who is not allowed to look at their companion. Using a lifeline restarts the clock for the question. In episodes filmed with no studio audience due to theTop prize winner(s)
Edwin Daly (29 August 2016)
On 29 August 2016, 67-year-old Edwin Daly became the first Australian contestant (and the fourth worldwide) on the Hot Seat (and the third in Australia) to win the top prize of AU$1,000,000.Antony McManus (25 November 2021)
On 25 November 2021, Antony McManus became the second Australian contestant on the Hot Seat (and the fourth in Australia) to win the top prize of AU$1,000,000, using the Switch lifeline he won in Fastest Finger First to swap the question. Original question (Answer was selected after the Switch lifeline was used): Switched question:Top Prize losers “The Million Dollar Hot Seat Curse”
Barry Soraghan (8 June 2009)
Jeff Tarr (28 September 2009)
Jeff Tarr was the first contestant ever to blaze through the first 14 questions.Paul Wolfenden (14 June 2010)
Jim Graham (20 June 2011)
Alan Edwards (16 April 2012)
Kevin Short (13 May 2013)
Craig Anderson (1 October 2018)
Controversy
In one episode, a contestant gave an answer to the final question, but McGuire told the contestant that she had not answered it in time and checked with the producers to see whether this was a "pass" or she was to be awarded $1,000. While the decision was being made, the contestant insisted that she had two seconds left on the clock. In the end, the contestant won $1,000.References
{{Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Nine Network original programming 2000s Australian game shows 2010s Australian game shows Australian television spin-offs 2009 Australian television series debuts English-language television shows Television shows set in Melbourne Television series by Sony Pictures Television