Bradley Walsh’s new game show confuses fans who speculate it’s a hoax - The Independent

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Bradley Walsh’s new game show will, apparently, see contestants risk their own money in a bid to win £1m – but many are questioning whether it’s a hoax.

Million Pound Shot launches on Channel 4 on Sunday (1 November), with the 66-year-old presenter revealing the “original” idea that players will be using their own cash to attempt to win the seven-figure sum.

He said: “This programme is unlike anything we’ve seen on British TV before, and when I heard about this format I thought it was one of the most original and surprising quiz shows I’d ever encountered.”

Contestants will, Channel 4 has claimed, bring their own bank cards and bet cash according to how confident they feel in their answers to various general knowledge questions. They can win Bet Balls, which have a monetary value, and subsequently choose to take the money or risk firing them into the Million Pound Shot Machine to attempt to win £1m.

“Alongside playing with their own money, there are more twists and turns along the way – I’m excited for everyone to see how it plays out,” Walsh continued.

“They’re going to have to be willing to take big risks, and back themselves right to the very end.

“This is not a game for the faint-hearted!”

Bradley teased: “This game is all about confidence and bravado.

“Putting your money where your mouth is will not be simple when it’s your own cold hard cash.

“So the contestants are going to have to be cool, calm and willing to take a risk.

“The game is always in their control and I’m hoping for confident, bright players with a good breadth of general knowledge and a sense of fun.”

The programme has been the subject of immense speculation on social media after promising a “huge secret twist” and “a night of drama” unlike anything Walsh has hosted before, with “tension, big moments and a curveball that the audience won’t see coming”.

Some have questioned whether Million Pound Shot is more experimental than a conventional game show, with one user on the British TV subreddit suggesting it could even be a hoax in the vein of the BBC’s infamous Ghostwatch.

“Everything about it feels like it isn’t a real TV show, and is actually going to be some sort of surprise/twist,” one post read.

Million Pound Shot airs on Channel 4 on Sunday at 9pm.