Soap Stars Weekend Highlights

Well done to all our celebrity contestants who appeared in the Hot Seat for our "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" LIVE Soap Star Special!

Here are the highlights!

Saturday 20th August

First up we had William Roache who is best known for playing Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow. He now holds the Guinness World Record for the longest serving actor in a serial drama. Joining William in the Hot Seat was his Coronation Street co-star Michelle Collins. Michelle plays Rovers manageress Stella Price but is probably best known for her ten years as EastEnders bad girl Cindy Beale. Michelle last appeared on Millionaire back in 2008. William’s chosen charities were Rainbows Children’s Hospice and Sussex Horse Rescue Trust and Michelle was playing for the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation.

The BIG BAD CLOCK put pressure on our first couple of the night and Michelle kept popping her hand up to answer the questions! They used their Ask The Audience lifeline at £2,000 which helped them move forward to £5,000. At £10,000 they used their Phone-A-Friend deciding to call William’s friend Stuart Hall who helped them reach £20,000. Playing now for £50,000 they decided to use their last lifeline 50:50, this helped Michelle feel more reassured by her chosen answer but after they said “final answer” Chris went into a break and they had to sit on the edge of their seats awaiting the result! Finally Chris revealed they were correct and they won a massive £50,000! They had to use their Switch lifeline at the £150,000 question. Unfortunately their answer was incorrect and they lost £20,000, however they still left the show with a fantastic total of £50,000.

Next up was a quick Coronation Street Quiz for the studio audience! Prizes included Stars of Coronation Street exclusive DVD boxsets and exclusive Coronation Street playing cards!

Next in the Hot Seat we had Danny Miller who is best known for playing mixed up mechanic Aaron Livesy in Emmerdale. Joining him was his Emmerdale co-star Lucy Pargeter who plays his mother Chas Dingle. Lucy’s chosen charity was Safe at Last. Danny hoped to raise money for Once Upon A Smile - a charity he has recently set up to offer holidays for those suffering with cancer or those bereaved. They had been practising for the show playing the original Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? iPad game and Lucy had managed to get quite high up the money tree.

Lucy and Danny had a great start. When they reached £5,000 they decided to use their first lifeline of the evening 50:50, this helped them move up the money tree. The couple played well and reached £20,000 with the help of their Ask The Audience lifeline. At the £50,000 question they used Phone-A-Friend calling fellow Emmerdale star John Middleton who gave them the correct answer. They reached the £75,000 landmark and used Switch to get a brand new question. They were both unsure of the correct answer and decided as they couldn’t lose any money they should go for it and to decide which answer to go for they played play rock, paper, scissors! Definitely a Millionaire first! Unfortunately their answer was incorrect but they still went away with a fantastic £50,000.

Our last couple of the first evening was ex Eastenders stars Ricky Groves and Joe Swash. Joe is best known for playing EastEnders loveable rogue Micky Miller and faced the Hot Seat for The Ben Kinsella Foundation. Ricky is best known for playing hapless Garry Hobbs in EastEnders from 2000 - 2009. Ricky hoped to raise money for his chosen charity The Lord’s Taverners.

They reached £2,000 without using any lifelines but as they were being asked the question for £5,000 the klaxon sounded and it was the end of the show. Joe and Ricky’s game then rolled over to the following day!

Sunday 21st August

With Ricky and Joe at £2,000 with all three lifelines intact they got back into the swing of the game very well reaching £5,000 but unfortunately they answered incorrectly on the £10,000 question and dropped back down to £1,000.

Next up Coronation Street and Hollyoaks united with Rovers Return barmaid, Kym Marsh and her fiancé Jamie Lomas who plays Hollyoaks’ resident villain Warren Fox. Kym was raising money for Bliss, a charity for premature babies. Jamie played for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity.

They played an excellent game and with two lifelines still remaining they used their 50:50 which helped them to achieve £20,000. Now playing for £50,000 they used Phone-A-Friend calling Jimmy McKenna, Jamie’s co-actor from Hollyoaks. Jimmy wasn’t 100% but Jamie and Kym also felt his answer could be correct and they went for it and won £50,000! They went onto play for £75,000 with a guess at the correct answer but unfortunately it was wrong and Jamie and Kym finished with a brilliant £50,000.

Our final pairing of the soap star weekend was Dominic Brunt and Mark Charnock both from Emmerdale. Dominic plays the vet Paddy Kirk and hoped to raise money for his chosen charity the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). Mark plays chef Marlon Dingle and sat in the Hot Seat for the Down Syndrome Training and Support Service.

Their first lifeline, Ask The Audience was used at the £2,000 mark but without a confident answer from the audience they used their 50:50 and went onto win £5,000. Now with only one lifeline left the boys played on and reached £10,000. They then used their Phone-A-friend calling Dominic’s friend Nigel Lindsay who answered the question confidently, Chris kept them hanging on with a commercial break but announced they had won £10,000 upon return. They played on and reached the £50,000 question but didn’t want to risk losing £19,000 and with no more lifelines to use Mark and Dominic decided not to risk it and left the show with an ample £20,000.

Finally at the end of the show one lucky viewer had the chance to win half of the contestant's winnings! Nick from Clitheroe answered a question LIVE on air and won the viewer pot of £85,500 along with a VIP trip behind the scenes at the Emmerdale set AND a luxury weekend at the 5 star Braithwaite Hall Country retreat in Yorkshire.

What a fabulous soap star weekend!