Q&A With “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” Host Meredith Vieira

We know the rules of the new version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire coming September 13th.  We know most of the minor details, and more will be revealed with our set report coming in the next few days.  What about host Meredith Vieira, though?  How does she feel about the changes and how has it affected her role as host?  The show conducted a conference call with Meredith yesterday.  We asked a few questions, and we’ve also got a few others that various other outlets asked which were interesting.

We know how the fans are reacting to the changes, but what about Meredith?  She’s fine with them now, but that wasn’t always the case.  Meredith explains, “I was not totally sold on the changes when I was told about them.  And then I saw the game played…and I have to admit I thought it was more exciting. And now hosting, now hosting it for 10 shows, I definitely think it’s an improvement. It might be a little jarring at first because there’s no hot seat and you have to listen carefully to what I’m saying. Once you get it, it’s easy.”

As we’ve said, and as we’ll explain in our set report, the experience for the contestants have changed.  The comfort zone of the Hot Seat has been removed and now contestants stand behind a central table, looking up to a massive, imposing screen.  The contestant is now completely walled in, on all sides, by the audience unlike before.  It’s a very different, nerve-wracking experience for the players.  Meredith does all she can to calm them down. “I’m a touchy-feely type. I’ll hug them or…in every commercial break I talk to them to try to relax them as much as possible. It’s a weird role I play because I try to trick them a bit and mess with them but I never want them to feel out of sorts. I want them to do the best they can, because I want them to win…all of them. But I do have to mess with them a little bit.”

Images courtesy of Valleycrest Productions Ltd.

“I think…chatting with them, humor helps…whenever I can I try to involve the audience,” Vieira adds, “that these folks are all on their team, so they have the sense that it’s a friendly room to be in because it can be a scary space, too. Some people are just jumping up and down and so excited. Others get out and you shake their hand and it’s soaked wet and they are really, really nervous.”

Our friend Carrie at About.com asked about the learning curve to adjust to the new rules. Meredith said, “There’s certainly a learning curve because there’s a lot of things to think about. There’s more things happening at the beginning of the game now than there was before, and the new lifelines, so there’s always an adjustment period. I’m actually surprised I caught on as quickly as I did and I’m not suggesting how smart I am, just that once you figure out the initial changes and specifically that randomizing, it becomes pretty self evident…the game. I’m enjoying it because the game has been re-energized because that makes it more fun. I’m watching the contestants and they seem to be enjoying it, and our audiences are very much enjoying it.”

The game is still hard, but more money is able to be won by before and if you play well, seeing a million dollar question appears more possible than it has in recent years. Meredith said that contestants are feeling more optimistic about winning big. “I think so. Also they are winning a lot of money right away, potentially, if they get some of those big numbers because they accumulate the money…it’s all put into a bank. I think that makes them feel…more excited about it. The fact that the questions are randomized and they can jump twice can give them the sense they can move up that tree quicker than they might otherwise. Have we had a millionaire? We can’t say. But we have only had three in the eight years I’ve done it and I’m sure hoping we have at least one this year. It would be great.”