Two restaurateurs appearing on Australia's Millionaire Hot Seat recently suffered a humiliating defeat when they failed to answer a question about dinosaurs. Contestants Tania and Christina, both wearing matching leopard print, breezed through the first question but stumbled when asked to identify which of the following was not a dinosaur: a thesaurus, a stegosaurus, a triceratops, or a pterodactyl. They passed on the question, unable to realise that a thesaurus is a reference work, not a prehistoric creature.
In another blunder on the BBC show Pointless, a contestant gave a partially correct answer when asked to name a South American capital. He answered Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, but mispronounced it. The opposing team immediately stole the answer, with one rival boasting, 'Having lived in South America for 18 months, can you give me the benefit of the doubt?'
Hosts are not immune to gaffes either. The Chase host Bradley Walsh broke into uncontrollable laughter when reading a question featuring the name Fanny Chmeler. The laughter spread to the audience and the chaser, and Bradley could still be heard sniggering long after the question had passed.
On Millionaire Hot Seat, contestant Whitney Beseler buckled under pressure when asked which piece of jewellery does not symbolise a relationship. She answered 'anniversary ring' instead of the correct answer 'burger ring', later calling it 'the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me'.
Model Manuela Arbelaez made a costly mistake on The Price Is Right when she accidentally revealed the correct answer to a contestant, effectively giving away a free car. She later tweeted that she had not been sacked for the gaffe.
In 2007, American singer Kellie Pickler appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and was asked which European country Budapest is the capital of. She became confused, asking, 'This might be a stupid question. I thought Europe was a country? I know they speak French there, don't they? Is France a country?' She ultimately relied on the answer of a nine-year-old boy.
