This 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' winner's lifeline is still an epic TV moment 25 years later

The life-changing game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" captivated audiences across the globe for decades. While there have been several exciting moments when contestants won huge money, nothing comes close to what John Carpenter did back in 1999. He is perhaps the most viral participant of the show in the history of television. 

Here's what John Carpenter did

John Carpenter, who worked as an IRS tax agent at the time, participated in the 1999 season of the US version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." Carpenter was no ordinary contestant as he reached the final question.

While he stared at making history and the possibility of becoming the first millionaire of the show, the pressure didn't catch up to him at all. 

At the time, the show was hosted by the late Regis Philbin, who had clarified to Carpenter that there were three lifelines on the show, 50:50, Phone-a-Friend, and Ask the Audience. 

At the last stage of the game, Philbin, read out the final question "Which of these U.S Presidents appeared on the television series 'Laugh-In?'" for a million dollars. The options were Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford.

While it didn't look like Carpenter needed any help, he surprisingly decided to take a lifeline for the last question.

He chose 'Phone-A-Friend' and told Philbin that he would like to call his father for help. However, no help was needed. When his father picked up the call, the first thing Carpenter said was, "I don't really need your help, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to win the million dollars."

This stunned the the audience and sent chills down the spines of many, as people witnessed one of the coldest moments in television history. Carpenter's response was met with a loud cheer and applause and he went on to win the mega prize and become the first millionaire of the show. 

Years later, while reflecting on his iconic win, Carpenter told HuffPost that he planned how things would go down. "I said to myself that I was going to use a lifeline no matter what on the last question because I didn't want to be thought of as that guy," he said.

However, when he saw the question he knew that his father would know that Carpenter didn't need any help. "So, I'm a bit of a smart a** and it came to me to just tell him I was going to win," he added. 

A quarter of a century later, Carpenter was interviewed again by ABC Game Shows, who shared a clip on their TikTok page. In the interview, the first million-dollar winner shared that the thing he remembers the most about his winning moment was the relief of being right.

"Because if I had been wrong after doing that, I don't know what would have happened in my life," he said. 

Carpenter also shared that while the money wasn't enough for him to depend on forever, he did buy a car with it. It seems like the cold and collected demeanor of the historic winner hadn't changed over 25 years.