Why I Stopped Hosting Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – Frank Edoho

Media personality Frank Edoho has denied reports that he was sacked as the host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire(WWTBM), explaining that he initially left because the show’s longtime sponsor withdrew its support.

Speaking on an episode of The KK Show, Edoho said the programme went off the air after its sponsor could no longer finance it. He added that disagreements during negotiations for the show’s return also delayed his comeback.

Edoho said he began his broadcasting career at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, where he worked for four years before moving to television.

He said:

“I was on radio. I worked for Radio Nigeria – that’s the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria – for four years.

“You know, once you can work on radio for four years but not get as much popularity or fame as you would if you worked on TV for one month.”

The broadcaster hosted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire for 13 years, from 2004 to 2017.

Explaining why the show ended, he said:

“So Who Wants to Be a Millionaire sort of came to an end when our sponsor withdrew.

“I don’t know if I can mention brand names here, but our sponsor stayed with us for a decade sponsoring the show.”

According to Edoho, the sponsor pulled out after being hit with a major regulatory penalty by the Federal Government, making it difficult to continue funding the programme.

He said:

“I think the Federal Government fined them based on some industry… I think it was just like a punitive measure for one corporate thing that happened.

“I can’t go into details, but that affected the sponsorship of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. So they said, ‘Hey guys, we can’t do this anymore based on the fact that we have to pay an incredible sum of money back to the Federal Government.’”

Edoho also revealed that when plans were made to revive the show with new sponsors, he requested a stake in the programme as an executive producer because of his long years as host.

He said:

“I went into negotiation because we heard that other sponsors were interested, and I wanted to be an executive producer.

“I wanted to have a stake in it because I feel that I built myself up to the extent that I assumed I was an asset to the show.”

However, the negotiations failed due to disagreements.

He dismissed reports that he had been dropped from the programme, saying they were based on assumptions after he was absent from the relaunch.

“We were having differences in negotiation. I think it was one newspaper that went and said that I was dropped based on the fact that, with the relaunch of the show under the new sponsor, I wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“And of course, they would draw conclusions based on that.”

Edoho insisted the report was false.

“So they announced that I was dropped from the show, which was false then.

“I gave my statement. I said, ‘Okay, you know what? This is it.’ I felt I was thrown under the bus after all the years I put in.”

The presenter left the programme in September 2017 when it went on a temporary break after its sponsor, MTN Nigeria, withdrew its support.

The show returned in 2022 with new sponsors and a higher cash prize, with Edoho also returning as host.