KEY POINTS:
Former police detectives will be on the lookout for would-be cheats when filming starts on the Kiwi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire next month.
Shooting starts in Melbourne in two weeks and production company Great Southern Television said part of their budget included hiring private eyes to sit in the studio audience.
The UK version of the show was embroiled in a cheating scandal in 2003 when an audience member was caught coughing to guide the contestant to the correct multi-choice answer.
Former breakfast TV presenter Mike Hosking will host the TV One show - although Great Southern Television managing director Philip Smith and Millionaire producer Tony Holden said a network embargo prevented them from confirming that.
Holden said more than 20,000 people auditioned online for the 10-episode show, which will be filmed at Australian network Channel Nine's Millionaire set over three weeks.
An as-yet unknown number of Kiwi contestants will be flown over for filming. They will stay for two days and spend one night in the same hotel as Hosking.
Each will be allowed to take one person to be part of the studio audience.
The game involves winning money by answering up to 15 multiple-choice general knowledge questions. Contestants win $1 million if they answer all 15 correctly and have a series of lifelines to help them.
The Herald on Sunday understands using Channel Nine's $600,000 set, its in-house crew and $500,000 software system will save more than $1m to help offset the costs of flights and accommodation.
The show will get no funding from New Zealand On Air, which doesn't finance foreign-format or light-entertainment shows.
While the show will follow the traditional format that has screened in more than 20 countries, Smith said the absence of a "fastest finger first" round would also cut costs.
That section, in which 10 contestants vie for the chance to challenge for money, has also been dropped in Australia.
Smith said Holden had done a "really good job" producing TV2's musical gameshow Singing Bee, which screened earlier this year.
Holden has held live auditions with hundreds of people from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. He said the smartest contestant so far was an Aucklander who scored 29 out of 30 yesterday.
COULD YOU BE A MILLIONAIRE?
Sample audition questions. (Asterisk denotes correct answer.)
What creature from Greek mythology grew two heads each time it was cut off?
Cerberus, Minotaur, Argus, Hydra *
In a standard five-line limerick, what line rhymes with the third line of the poem?
First line, second line, fourth line *, fifth line.
The anterior cruciate ligament is located where on the human body?
Neck, knee *, jaw, spine
Which of these is a "quadruped"?
Cow*, rectangle, person over 40, car
Which of these historical figures gave his name to a famous boot?
Nelson, Wellington*, Hannibal, Napoleon
What are the two official languages of the Olympic Movement?
French and English*, French and Italian, German and English, French and Spanish
An obstetrician specialises in which area?
Plastic surgery, transplants, fractures, childbirth*
