Secret Millionaire
| The Secret Millionaire | |
|---|---|
Title card from series 10 (UK)
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| Created by | RDF Media |
| Narrated by | John Lester |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 10 in UK; 3 in US; 2 in AU; 2 in IE |
| No. of episodes | 67 in UK; 25 in US; 10 in AU (+ 2 unaired); 8 in IE (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 48 min. (per episode) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Channel 4 (UK) FOX/ABC (US) Nine Network (Australia) RTÉ1 (Ireland) |
| Original release | 29 November 2006 – present |
| Website | |
The Secret Millionaire is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds (or tens of thousands of dollars in the US and Australian versions). Members of the community are told the cameras are present to film a documentary. The UK version is produced by production company RDF Media. It first aired in 2006 on Channel 4, with further series in subsequent years.
In each episode, a millionaire leaves his/her luxurious life behind, takes on a secret identity and lives undercover in a much much poorer area of the country for a week to ten days (in the US version, it is 6 days). Living on a limited budget (Usually less than $150) with no modern conveniences they must forge their own way in the community – working and volunteering alongside the locals and finding individuals or projects whom they think deserve a cut of their fortune. On their final day, the millionaires come clean and reveal their true identity to the people they have chosen, surprising them with gifts of thousands of pounds or US dollars to improve their lives. They must donate at least $100,000 in total.
The first millionaire to appear in the series was 26-year-old Ben Way. A third series of the show began on Channel 4 on 5 August 2008. The first episode of Series 3 featured businessman James Benamor, who has been criticised in the media for investing in the sub-prime market, and sharp practice in his company the Richmond Group.
Andrew Feldman was the youngest millionaire to appear on the show at the age of 24 in the final episode of series 10 shown on 24 June 2012 and made the second largest donation a single charity had received, of £100,000, to Little Heroes; a charity that supports children with cancer.
An American version of the show premiered on 3 December 2008 on Fox.
Like the British version, the Fox show features wealthy benefactors each week who go undercover in the most deprived neighbourhoods of the United States. For one week, the millionaires mingle within the community and live on a very tight budget; this being the very first time doing so for many of them. At the end of the show, the millionaires reveal their identities and proceed to donate a minimum of $100,000 (which they sometimes divide among the recipients).
Fox has aired six episodes of the hour-long series, including a two-hour premiere. The millionaires have included Internet advertising tycoon Gurbaksh Chahal; Todd and Gwen Graves, of the restaurant chain Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers; Century Software founder Gregory Haerr; DUB Magazine founders Myles and Cynthia Kovacs; attorney, broker and sportswear entrepreneur Gregory Ruzicka, and his son Cole; and Baltimore, Maryland civic leader and Baltimore Ravens NFL cheerleader Molly Shattuck.
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