Jeremy Clarkson forced to intervene as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire star suffers humiliating start
Jeremy Clarkson stepped in to help celebrity contestant Tony Bellew avoid a humiliating exit on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after the boxing champion struggled with the opening £100 question.
The incident occurred during the latest run of celebrity specials on the ITV game show, which aired after Dancing on Ice.
Bellew appeared completely stumped by what should have been an easy starter question about social terminology.
The Top Gear legend was forced to intervene to prevent Bellew’s chosen charity from walking away empty-handed.
The host asked Bellew: “Which of these is a term meaning to socialise with other people, especially those who are deemed important?”
The options presented were Digestive, Shortbread, Ginger Nut and Hobnob.
“I’m not going to lie, I’ve never heard of this phrase before,” Bellew admitted, looking completely puzzled.
Clarkson, mentioning he had “helped” contestants at this stage before, proceeded to give away the correct answer – Hobnob – with a barely concealed cough.
After his near-miss on the opening question, Bellew later commented that a question about the film Ocean’s Eleven was “easier” than the £100 one.
“I don’t know what kind of parties you go to!” he quipped to Clarkson.
The exchange highlighted the stark contrast between the contestant’s initial struggle and his growing confidence as the game progressed.
Despite his rocky start, Bellew went on to match fellow celebrity contestant Julie Hesmondhalgh’s achievement, securing £64,000 for his chosen charity.
Viewers took to social media to comment on what appeared to be significant editing of the episode, prompted by Clarkson’s remarks about Bellew’s deliberations.
“I wonder how long that episode of #whowantstobeamillionaire actually took to film. But well done Tony, you got there in the end!” wrote one viewer.
Another added: “Bet Tony did a lot more deliberation than what was transmitted because Jeremy was making a big point of it.”
“I’d love to know how long this took to record as per Jeremy’s comments,” commented a third viewer.
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Someone else penned: “I love Tony Bellew but going off of the amount of editing there was I reckon they were there for a long time…”
Another joked: “Word is that the audience are still there listening to Tony deliberate his answers!” (sic)