Genre Game Show Producer(s) Celador
Endemol | Country of origin Netherlands Running time 60 minutes | |
Presented by Robert ten Brink (1999-2008)
Jeroen van der Boom (2011-present) Original network SBS 6 (6 February 1999 - 2006, 2011-present)
RTL 4 (March 4, 2006 - May 24, 2008) | ||
Lotto Weekend Miljonairs ( [ˈlɔtoː ˈʋikɛnt mɪljoːˈnɛːrs], English translation: Lotto Weekend Millionaires) is a Dutch game show based on the original British format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show has been hosted by Jeroen van der Boom since 2011. The main goal of the game is to win €1 Million by answering 12 multiple-choice questions correctly. It has been shown from 6 February 1999. Until 2008 the show was hosted by Robert ten Brink.
Contents
From 6 February 1999 to February 2006, it was shown on SBS 6, and from 4 March 2006 to 24 May 2008, it was shown on RTL 4. Since 12 March 2011 it is once again broadcast by SBS 6.
From the start on, the Lotto was the main sponsor, however, in the first seasons (from about 1999 to 2001), the show was known as just Weekend Miljonairs. Later, the title was changed to Lotto Weekend Miljonairs.
When a contestant gets the second question correct, he will leave with at least €1,000. When a contestant gets the seventh question correct, he will leave with at least €25,000.
There are four lifelines: Fifty-Fifty, Phone-A-Friend, Ask The Audience, and Switch the Question. Switch the Question becomes available when the contestant correctly answers the seventh question.
The first contestant on the show won ƒ16,000.
The program has only been won once so far, on January 6, 2001 by Hans Peters. Because the euro was not used yet in 2001, he did not win €1 Million, but ƒ1,000,000 (€453,780).
The only other time in the program so far anybody has faced the 15th question without walking away was on December 20, 2003 by contestant Menno de Ruijter, but he lost €234,000 of the €250,000 he had.
There have also been a few €0 winners, none more so than Peter Lindhout in March 2007 (he missed his 4th question).
There have been a lot of other final questions, but none of the contestants took the risk.
Ending of the program in the original format
In November 2007, the Lotto announced that it would stop sponsoring the show in mid-2008, and would not renew the contract. RTL did not want to give up the program, and so they searched hard for a new sponsor. Eventually they failed.
The last episode aired on May 24, 2008.
For some time it seemed like the program would still return after the summer of 2008, but unfortunately, on June 26, 2008, RTL told in public that the program would not return.
Robert ten Brink, the host of the program, will be the host of Het Moment Van De Waarheid, the Dutch version of The Moment of Truth.
In 2011 Lotto wanted to start a new season, but without Robert ten Brink. The problem was that RTL only wanted to make the new season with Robert. That's the reason the program returned on March 12, 2011 with a new host, and again sponsored by the Lotto.
Money Trees
Euro Money Tree (used from 2011 to present)
Euro Money Tree (used from 2002 to 2008)
ƒ Money Tree (used from 1999 to 2001)