R32,000 and a Little Dog

I love how memories of events long forgotten, suddenly appear in our thoughts.  One moment we are thinking about supper or rather what to cook for supper, out of nowhere a lovely memory springs to mind.

Circa 1999/2000 Who Wants to be a Millionaire graced our screens and like devoted acolytes we religiously watched every episode, always wishing that that was us because the answers were so simple and we could not understand how the contestants did not know them.  I mean really, come on!

Unbeknownst to me, George was phoning in on a daily basis to the competition line and answering the three questions posed .  And then one fine evening he came home and told me that we would be going to Johannesburg to participate in the show.

I was lying on my bed reading when he delivered the news, now we all know that George loves to joke around.  Except this time his face gave it all away and he wasn’t joking.

I asked him how this happened and he told me that he had answered three questions and the organizers called him back to tell him that he had qualified for the show.  What questions I asked and all he could remember that the final question was “What is a Zola Budd?”  And he because he loves roses he knew a rose variety called Zola Budd which he duly answered.  Up until today George still thinks that the answer they were looking for was “a taxi”, but his unusual answer is what got us into the competition. 

George then told me that we were flying to Johannesburg on the following Tuesday and that we must take – as per the organizers instructions – 3 changes of clothing, none of which should have polka dots or stripes or repetitive patterns – preferably plain bold colours.

All expenses paid, we flew out of Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg, upon arrival at the arrival at the airport we were whisked off to the Mnet recording studios, where we were met with the other contestants , the show production team, makeup people who groomed us and assisted us with our outfit choice, as well as the producer who talked us through the  “do’s and don’ts” in the filming of the show.  In retrospect and hindsight this appeared to part of the strategy to keep us, the contestants, on our nerves,  as there was absolutely no time relax.

So there we were ten participants with their spouses preparing to battle  “fastest finger first”!  Round One we lost, Round Two we lost and it seemed like time was running out  and that a faceoff with Jeremy was fast disappearing,

Round three……

AND THE WINNER IS GEORGE CHARALAMBOUS.  

George leapt up and rushed excitedly towards Jeremy with a jumping high five, duly missing Jeremy’s hand, thus side swiping his face.  “Oh no” I thought in a moment of sheer panic!  “Too bad I can’t hide under a chair!!!!!”

It was stress, stress, stress – next level STRESS!

Needless to say Jeremy Maggs,  the consummate gentleman, took it all in his stride, called me up to join George  and encouraged us to continue being exciting contestants. 

I am not exaggerating for the first time in my life I experienced sweaty palms and I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my body.

A few of the questions that come to mind were 

Brenda Fassie’s song Pata Pata – what does Pata Pata mean? I knew immediately that it was touch touch 

Who was the first winner of African origin of the men’s single tennis title at the American Open? George immediately said he knew the answer, however,  before he answered I warned him that if he was wrong I would divorce him –  without blinking an eye he nevertheless answered correctly  (Phew – I wasn’t going to divorce him!

The next question had a completely stumped…

Where are the Echo caves?

The first thoughts that came to our minds was the Eastern Transvaal, but not being sure we chose to use a lifeline and ended up using all three, and still were nowhere near knowing the correct answer.  We stuck to our original thoughts and gave, Mpumalanga, final answer. Good guess.

Our R64,000 question was um! Um!   It was so darn nerve wracking…… for the life of me we can’t remember, all I know is that the answer was incorrect.  

However, we had R32,000 in the bank.  

Sitting in the hot seat we came to the realisation, that in the past, we were grossly unfair to past contestants!  This game is next level nerve wracking – no wonder they got easy questions wrong.

Firstly, you are seated in high chairs, with no place to rest your feet and the back rest of the chair is positioned at a very awkward angel.  On top of all the seating discomfort – these huge and I mean HUGE lights are angled to shine directly into our eyes, the music increases your heart rate, and Jeremy piles on the pressure.

We signed a contract that we would not reveal what happened on the show until it was shown on Mnet. 

Very good friends arranged a drinks, snacks and watch party in their home.  We all gathered around to watch the show.  Much laughter and jollification was enjoyed by all. Upon our return home, my sister, Vanessa, who was staying with us at the time related the most amazing story. She was lying on the settee with our little dog Buffy. At some stage during the show I laughed! Buffy sat bolt upright, jumping off the settee she ran toward the tv set, stood up on her hind legs with her little snout pressed up against the screen. Her little body shaking with delight. She then rushed off to fetch one of her fluffy toys and with it in her mouth stood in front tripling and shaking with sheer joy…”I can hear my mommy, but where is she?”.

All in all it was an amazing and unforgettable experience.