Jauch: WWM in Russia is that bad

Contestants on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" have to dress warmly in Putin's empire. Günther Jauch reveals: The Russian edition is notorious. A "rather old" Heidi Klum proves the "public despiser" right. The virologist fails with the cookie.

When insidiousness becomes a success factor on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", you're probably in Russia. Don't mess with the audience, warned Günther Jauch in the second part of the big "3 Million Euro Week". Niklas Kaeseler was the only candidate to opt for the safety option on Tuesday evening. His reasoning: The additional jokers had not been as convincing in recent months. According to Jauch, he would have been straight to the bottom in Russia.

"'Who wants to be a millionaire?' exists in 80 countries. Russia is the only country where viewers give the wrong answer on purpose if they don't like someone," Jauch announced. "The Russian form of the show is really famous for this." The viewers in the studio, however, did not blame Kaeseler for the vote of no confidence. The majority of them voted for the correct answer to the question for 16,000 euros, namely that the honey buzzard had competed for the title of "Bird of the Year 2024".

Does Jauch punish "audience despisers"?

The secondary school teacher for English and geography preferred to hedge his bets with the 50:50 joker. But then he qualified for the final on Friday. There, candidates can bet their winnings for the chance to win the record sum - but only if Jauch offers it to them. "I don't have to ask you on Friday. I could say, 'Audience despisers - I'm not talking to them anymore'," said the RTL presenter. "Or I could say: Hey, he's messing with the audience - let's take him first. Let's see."

In the end, Kaeseler earned 16,000 euros.

Kaeseler's mistrust of the expertise of the additional jokers would have been better placed with his telephone joker on Tuesday evening. When asked which US president followed an assassinated predecessor, a fellow teacher chose George Washington of all people - the first head of government of the United States. This left the teacher with 16,000 euros. For his successor, however, his premonition came true.

For 8,000 euros, Jauch wanted to know from Alexander Hundertpfund: Which of these singers is already a grandfather? The choices were Ronan Keating, Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake and Bill Kaulitz. The marketing manager of a mechanical engineering company asked a gentleman from the audience. He announced with conviction: "Bill Kaulitz is a very young man who is married to a very old woman, Heidi Klum."

It continued: The 50-year-old Klum has a "relatively old daughter", so it is theoretically possible that Kaulitz is a grandfather. Neither Jauch nor the contestant looked convinced - partly because the viewer couldn't say anything about Timberlake and Keating's family relationships. Left to his own devices, Hundertpfund was suddenly certain that Keating had become a father at an early age and logged in the correct answer without any further help.

The courage to take risks and a good telephone joker helped Hundertpfund win 64,000 euros. "What is the maximum number of moons between the earth and the sun: one, three, five, twelve?" asked Jauch. The contestant knew that apart from the Earth's satellite, only Mercury and Venus could push the number up. And his buddy knew that neither planet has moons. Jauch was impressed. His knowledge of our solar system was limited to: "Saturn has rings. And it was Buzz Armstrong."

"Hit my sore spot"

64,000 euros was the top prize on day two of the "3 Million Euro Week". After Hundertpfund, virologist Andrea Thoma-Kreß from Dachsbach near Nuremberg was delighted with this sum. Her childhood in the countryside and a few semesters studying biology helped her with the tricky 16,000-euro question of which animal body parts have exactly ten black stripes. She was looking for the wings of the Colorado potato beetle.

Andrea Thoma-Kreß was delighted to receive 64,000 euros.

Previously, a viewer in the "Who wants to be a millionaire?" studio had repaired the call of the extra joker. She was able to confirm it: A main character in the novel "The Pillars of the Earth" is called Tom Builder. Thoma-Kreß, who teaches at the University of Erlangen, finally had to pass when asked which English-inspired food word creation is due to an entrepreneur.

Jauch was not looking for Birkel's pasta or Lindt's praline, but Bahlsen's cookie. It is derived from the English word "cakes", explained the presenter. Overhang candidate Selina Schulze from Bonn was also delighted to receive 64,000 euros. "I got into a bit of trouble yesterday," said the police employee with a gambling tendency, referring to her partner.

"Can I ask if I can gamble?" she then asked in the deciding round. Jauch had to decline. The couple could have agreed on secret signs. But the presenter was able to tailor the no to the candidate: "You're not going to make yourself dependent on a man, and an unmarried one at that!" "You've hit my sore spot there," said Schulze, taking a chance and being rewarded: professional tennis tournaments are only held on grass for a few weeks a year and not on asphalt.

When asked about so-called motivators, however, the psychological advisor was immediately right. This refers, for example, to people who make their apartment or house available for filming. Jauch was able to report that sometimes a month's rent is paid for a day's filming - but the villa owner warned his viewers urgently. "Never do it. You won't recognize your apartment, your house or your garden afterwards. In the end, it will look like a 'crooked picture'," said Jauch, referring to the Loriot sketch (the presenter had tried in vain to find the stamp for Loriot's 100th birthday in ten post offices).

Innkeeper Daniel Hieninger from Laaber in the Regensburg district entered the competition on Wednesday with the 32,000 euro question. He had no idea what Jerry Springer had become famous for. The audience could help: Riot talk shows. Speaking of autocrat TV: "I think Donald Trump has always watched it," said Jauch.

Read also:

In Russia, viewers intentionally give the wrong answer on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" if they dislike a contestant. This is a well-known quirk of the Russian version of the show.

Günther Jauch, the host of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in Germany, mentioned that RTL's Russian edition is famous for this behavior.

Source: www.ntv.de