Who Wants to Be a Millionaire contestant left shocked after using Phone a Friend to call wife and man answers phone

You’re sat under a load of bright lights, Jeremy Clarkson is questioning you and you’ve got money at stake – things are already feeling pretty tense.

But then you ring your wife and some random bloke answers the phone? Now that’s enough to send your head spinning.

This kind of scenario would obviously only happen on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or in some weird interrogation nightmare, I guess.

And it’s what went down for this contestant after he used his Phone a Friend to get some help from his wife, leaving Clarkson stunned when a man answered.

Contestant JP Hogan called his partner while appearing on the ITV show back in 2020.

The science teacher from Lincoln had made some good headway so far but hit a brick wall when a confusing question could have bagged him £16,000 if answered correctly.

Clarkson asked: "Which of these days is part of the weekend in Germany?"

Hogan had four options to choose from: Donnerstag, Mittwoch, Sonntag, or Dienstag. (It was Sonntag, by the way).

And seeing as though he teaches science rather than languages, he was left pretty stumped.

But he had a lifeline: "My wife's auntie has lived in Germany for over 50 years, my wife's been there a few times.

"My wife, who at different times would probably have been in the audience, is at home as one of my Phone a Friends."

Hogan's wife didn't answer at first (ITV)

Making the most of that, he called up other half Elizabeth in the hope she could assist him.

The dial tone started ringing out in the studio while Clarkson quickly asked if Hogan would like him to fill her in on how far he had gotten, but the pair quickly silenced themselves when they heard a male voice on the other end.

After awkwardly listening to a few unintelligible words that a male voice uttered, the Top Gear star told the player: "That was a man who just answered your phone...

"Relax, relax! It could be completely innocent."

The crowd, Clarkson and Hogan then waited with bated breath as they gave Elizabeth's phone another try - only for her to innocently answer: "Hello?"

Well, that's awkward (ITV)

She confirmed that she had some company after the host enquired.

One social media user said: "Break time question: who was the man that answered the phone when JP phoned his wife? #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire."

But someone else realised that there was actually quite an innocent explanation behind the Phone a Friend fiasco.

They explained: "The man answering was literally an automated voice saying 'sorry there is no service'. Jeremy was JOKING about an affair."

Others also speculated that when Elizabeth said someone was with her, she meant that someone from the show was supervising her to make sure she didn't cheat and Google the answer for Hogan.

Luckily, the incident didn't throw the contestant off his game, and he ended up leaving the show with £64,000.