Featured Image Credit: ABC/Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Topics: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, TV
Anish Vij
Topics: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, TV
A former winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? has made a huge admission 25 years later.
Fans will remember John Carpenter delivering the ‘coldest sentence ever spoken’ when he appeared on the show back in 1999.
The tax agent took part in the first ever season of the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, hosted by the late Regis Philbin.
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Not only did Carpenter make it all the way to the last, million dollar question, he did it without using a single lifeline.
Watch the incredible scenes below:
For the final question, he was asked to provide the correct name of the US President who had appeared on the TV series Laugh-In.
The four options provided were Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.
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That's when Carpenter decided to use his lifeline, but not for the reason you think.
Logically, you'd presume it being be a smart move to use a lifeline for the most important question, but instead, the American opted to deliver a moment of pure confidence.
After calling up his dad, a very smiley Carpenter said: “I don’t really need your help. I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna win the million dollars.”
Without much hesitation, he delivered the right answer, which was President Nixon.
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Now, in an update 25 years on, Carpenter has spoke about the relief he had after answering the final question correctly.
"I would say the thing that I remember the most about the moment when I won was just, you know, 'Thank goodness I was right,' because if I had been wrong after doing that, just I don't know what would have happened in my life," he said.
"It was a, you know, a cultural touchstone, you know, back then and it kept going for many, many years.
"I like to think that I had a little bit to do with that.
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"I mean, I did buy a car, but I needed one anyway. I was just driving around in an old Honda Del Sol with some body damage at the time. You know, things are, you know, more comfortable.
"I mean, it's not like I could live on it forever. Still kept my job, but it was just good to have."
To this day, viewers are still amazed, as one TikTok user commented: “Coldest sentence ever spoken.”
While another replied: “What a flex.”
A third also added: “Bro just smiled," as a fourth wrote: “You can tell exactly when he realised he was going to win.”