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Viewers floored by heartfelt moment on Millionaire Hot Seat: 'Witnessing history'

Tom Flanagan
·Associate News Editor
·3-min read

Millionaire Hot Seat's top price of $1million was won on Thursday night – just the second time it's been taken home in the show's 12-year history.

Melbourne man Antony McManus was the recipient of the life-changing cheque and was brought to tears as host Eddie McGuire delivered him his winnings.

"Oh my god!" he said repeatedly, placing his hands over his mouth while shaking.

When asked how he was feeling, he told McGuire the win would allow him to "breathe a sigh of relief".

"We still rent, I can buy a house now... and know we're going to be OK."

Antony McManus wiped away tears as it was announced he'd won the top prize. Source: Nine
Antony McManus wiped away tears as it was announced he'd won the top prize. Source: Nine

Mr McManus said the win was "maybe a reward for all the s*** we've had to put up with and go through.

"This is unbelievable".

Mr McManus told Nine he has since used his winnings to buy an apartment with his husband Ron.

"Now I can stop worrying about the future."

The show was filmed in May, but aired on Thursday night.

Online, viewers were floored by the incredible TV moment.

"I never thought I could witness history in the making, it's very rare an event like this happens on TV, especially on millionaire hot seat, big congrats to the winner!" one viewer posted on Twitter.

"Crying over happiness over the win on millionaire hot seat," another said.

The million-dollar question

Mr McManus answered five questions correctly to win the $1 million and used the $1000 he'd won in Fastest Finger First earlier in the show to swap out the final question.

He was initially asked how many Australian prime ministers have been members for electorates in Queensland however then given a question on literature.

Asked which of these classic literary works was published first, he was given the four options of:

A: The Count of Monte Cristo

B: A Tale of Two Cities

C: War and Peace

D: Les Misérables

Deliberating to almost the last second, Mr McManus chose The Count of Monte Cristo, the one he was least sure about, after a hurried process of elimination.

His intuition was right, and McGuire announced he'd won $1 million dollars as confetti fell from the studio ceiling.

The only previous winner of the top prize was in 2016, when Edwin Daly became the first Australian winner.

He correctly chose Andrew Barton as the full name of 'Banjo' Paterson.

There have been seven contestants who have missed out on the final question.

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