Hot seat: Queenstown’s Simon Smith on TV One’s ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’

Smith, 41, appeared on TV One’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and was stumped on a question worth $64,000 on his quest for the million.

The Quail Rise father-of-two was relaxed in the hot seat next to host Mike Hosking, correctly guessing answers up to $32,000 after using up all his lifelines early on.

Smith admits he’s never seen the show before – a hit in the United Kingdom and Australia – because he can’t get Prime at home.

“I had to ask friends to tape the UK and Australian versions of the show so I could watch it beforehand so I knew what was going on.”

As for practice before the September 1 filming in Melbourne, Smith rehearsed by talking to an image of Hosking on his computer screen while wife Melissa Davidson quizzed him.

His “intensive study programme” didn’t help on the night: “I didn’t answer any questions I wouldn’t have known otherwise.”

Smith, who stood for Southland District Health Board elections last year, went through a rigorous audition in Dunedin before being selected for the show.

He never expected to walk away with $32,000: “Just getting flown across to Melbourne for six nights without the kids – all expenses paid – that was fantastic. To come away with anything else was just a bonus.”

He plans a family bicycle trip across Canada in 2010 with his winnings.

The question Smith missed on: where’s the International Atomic Energy Agency headquartered? Answer: Vienna.