By Nora Henze
His trauma almost repeated itself.
The second round of the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” surprise special provided candidate Leon Maximilian Laloi with a second visit to the WWM council chair on Whit Monday. Last year he was thrown back from 32,000 euros to 500 euros by his telephone joker David Friedrich with an incorrect answer.
Friedrich had now registered his friend again with moderator Günther Jauch (66) to make up for the bankruptcy. However, the evening was not a walk for Laloi: he was already threatened with another dramatic failure when asked the 200 euro question.
Laloi only reluctantly recalled the moment that was to haunt him and his friend David Friedrich for a long time. In a “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” issue in January, the candidate consulted his friend as a telephone joker when it came to the 32,000 euro question. Jauch also looked back with horror: “Let’s see how your ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ career started very hopefully and how it ended very abruptly about a year ago. That was tragic!”
When asked a football question, the telephone joker first guessed the correct answer, but then changed his mind again and thus caused his friend to lose. Laloi was only able to take home 500 euros at the time, and his friend David Friedrich was in agony, as he reported in the studio.
He was so ashamed that even the friendship suffered from the guilty conscience: “We haven’t done anything together since then. I wasn’t at his birthday party either.” Friedrich had even drawn the ire of mutual friends: “I also got some messages that told me very clearly what kind of phone joker and friend I am.”
Special joker for a 200-euro question
Laloi had his second chance that evening. He hadn’t closed his eyes because of his nervousness: “I didn’t sleep at all!” Even when asked the 200-euro question, he started to sweat: “What can countless people rightly call their place of residence? A Élysée Palace, B Federal Chancellery, C Bellevue Palace or D White House?”
The candidate first decided: “White House” – but then started to ponder: “I’m really on the hose.” Jauch tried to help: “You live, for example …” Laloi promptly added: “For rent!” He had the laughs So on his side, Jauch tried the next tip: “Do you live in a palace, in a chancellery, in a castle or in a house?” Again Laloi didn’t understand the connection: “Multi-family house.”
The quiz master didn’t give up and asked again, emphatically, “Is it a palace, chancellery, castle, or white house?” The contestant, now close to despair, remarked helplessly, “Castle. Castle.” This is absolutely horrifying. I’m just on the hose!” But he was lucky, because Günther Jauch had no intention of giving up his guest. He had thought about something without further ado: “I’ll do an additional joker that I came up with. You can choose anyone.”
A lady from the audience was then asked by Jauch: “What kind of house do you live in?” She promptly replied: “In a white house.” Now the penny dropped for Laloi, who threw his hands over his head in relief: ” D White house!” Jauch asked for the fifth time: “And what kind of house do you live in?” Laloi admitted ashamed: “In a white house.” According to Jauch, the hose on which he had stood was a particularly remarkable one been: “But that was a fire hose!”
16,000 euros for Laloi
Laloi expected a telephone consultation on the €32,000 question from his father, who was supposed to help him spell Griesgram and Grießbrei. But papa Christoph kept changing his mind until Jauch remembered the situation last year and pointed to the telephone joker at the time: “It’s the same with him!”
After the candidate himself had changed his mind again and again, he gave up and played it safe: “I won’t gamble. I did it once.” Leon Maximilian Laloi took home 16,000 euros. The hobby painter would like to invest the money in his own exhibition and made Jauch smile again. The presenter joked, “Focus on white houses?”
And the candidate would like to fulfill one more heart’s desire: “Perhaps a few Birkenstocks. The ones with the soft straps.”