On “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”: Candidate goes home with 0 euros

“How do you characterize the proverb ‘sunshine’ that is meant to indicate that everyone is happy and content? A: vain, B: coquettish, C: affected, D: smug?”

With a positive answer, student Stefan Severin (25) from Berlin could have overcome the 500 euro hurdle – but things turned out completely differently: The candidate chose the wrong answer – and had to leave the show without a cent.

Moderator Günther Jauch could hardly believe it when his candidate was unable to answer the actually easy question about “all sunshine and roses”. He mastered the first few questions without any problems, but when it came to the crucial question about the proverbial “all sunshine and roses” he stumbled.

Stefan decided against “vain” and “smug” and guessed “flirtatious”. A fatal mistake that ultimately cost him everything. By using the 50:50 joker, Stefan hoped for a short-term rescue – but even reducing the answer to two options did not lead him to the right solution. After the joker, the candidate was left with “vain” and “affected”. Choosing “affected” sealed his fate.

Only second zero

Günther Jauch, otherwise known for his dry manner, was visibly upset by his candidate’s wrong decision. However, he did give the candidate one ray of hope: a special for losers! Jauch: “Whenever we have five or six zeros together, we do a so-called zero special.” This caused laughter in the audience, and the candidate was also able to laugh again, at least briefly. The editorial team then reported back with the statistics – Jauch read out: “I just see that the last zero was in 2021. So there are now two of you. It might take a while.” He sent the unlucky candidate home with best wishes: “I’m not worried about you.”