Stephen Fry triumphs on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but is stumped by music question

He came agonisingly close to the jackpot on Sunday, 26 January's episode.

Stephen Fry on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (ITV screenshot)
Stephen Fry on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (ITV screenshot)

Stephen Fry walked away with a cool £250,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's latest celebrity special after being stumped by a chart music question.

Presented by Jeremy Clarkson, who described his Cotswolds pub The Farmer's Dog as a "total disaster" just last month, this tense ITV gameshow proved a perfect playground for one of the UK's brightest minds, yet Fry's broad spectrum of knowledge ground to a halt when faced with Steps, Fugees, Billy Joel, and Jonas Blue & Dakota.

The QI and Blackadder favourite donated his winnings to the mental health charity Mind, of which he has been president since 2011.

Jeremy Clarkson called the celebrity player a
Jeremy Clarkson called the celebrity player a "human sponge" (ITV screenshot)

"Which of these cover songs entered the UK Top 40 the longest time after the original version first charted?" was the question, with the options being Tragedy by Steps, Fast Car by Jonas Blue & Dakota, Uptown Girl by Westlife, or Killing Me Softly by the Fugees.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 67-year-old revealed: "Well Jeremy this is not my subject I'm afraid, but I've got one friend who might know these things, he's pretty good on pop music I think and that's Richard Osman, so we might as well give him a tinkle."

Read more:

Fry proceeded to use his Phone A Friend lifeline, but Osman struggled to offer a decisive answer within the 30-second timeframe.

"The fact is I'm clearly going to have to pack it in here," said the celebrity player, "but it's been amazing and so I'll take the money and run, that's my final response."

ADVERTISEMENT

Clarkson's parting gift was to tell Fry that this was "the biggest celebrity win" he'd witnessed in the seven years he'd been presenting Millionaire. The answer was then revealed to be Jonas Blue & Dakota's cover of Fast Car. Released in 2015, the single peaked at number two in the UK charts, 27 years after Tracy Chapman's original which first charted in 1988.

CHELTENHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 7: Richard Osman, best selling author and television personality, attends the 2023 Cheltenham Literature Festival on October 7, 2023 in Cheltenham, England. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)
Richard Osman is a multi-hyphenate star (David Levenson/Getty Images)

Toweringly tall at 6 ft 7 in, Osman is the definition of multi-hyphenate when it comes to his career highlights.

An executive producer of gameshows to begin with, including Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats and 10 O'Clock Live, he later became the creative director of Endemol UK, which commissioned his very own format known as Pointless for the BBC.

Pointless marked the first time he appeared on camera instead of behind it, working as host Alexander Armstrong's assistant for 13 years until 2022. In 2017, he also created Richard Osman's House of Games, which is still going strong after five series.

ADVERTISEMENT

2020 was the true life-changer, though, as he released his first novel The Thursday Murder Club via Penguin Random House subsidiary Viking Press to great acclaim. It kickstarted a franchise – four sequels and an upcoming Netflix adaptation starring Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan – and inspired the author to continue his literary endeavours with last year's We Solve Murders.

He also co-hosts The Rest is Entertainment podcast alongside Marina Hyde.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire airs on ITV1 and ITVX.