ITV viewers were quick to tear into Jeremy Clarkson’s Millionaire spin-off.

ITV viewers were quick to tear into Jeremy Clarkson’s show (Image: ITV)

ITV fans have torched Jeremy Clarkson’s new show, branding it “rubbish” as backlash erupted within minutes of it’s launch. Viewers barely had time to settle on the sofa before the network’s latest quiz experiment was torn apart online. The broadcaster’s new spin-off, Millionaire Hot Seat, launched on Tuesday night (January 7), promising a faster, tougher and more ruthless take on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? — but fans were quick to dismiss it as an “awful rehash” that stripped the show of everything they loved.

sted by Jeremy Clarkson, 65, the new format sees six contestants battle to stay in the so-called hot seat, with just 15 seconds to answer each question. Get it right and you climb the money ladder. Get it wrong and you’re dumped to the back of the queue — with the maximum prize slashed each time someone slips up. As Jeremy explained the rules, he pitched the show as a brutal evolution of the original, calling it: “pure concentrated Who Wants To Be A Millionaire juice.

fans were quick to dismiss it as an “awful rehash” (Image: ITV)

“no lifelines, no hesitating, and five people waiting to jump into the chair when someone makes a mess of things.” Viewers were unconvinced.

Within minutes, X was flooded with complaints from fans who said the format turned the iconic quiz into chaos.

One raged: “These people all like the sound of their own voices… or think they’re on regular WWTBAM…” Another snapped: “Can’t they just answer the by question and stop talking sh**e all the brd time!”

Others were furious at the 15-second time limit. “Do they realise how long 15 seconds is? Stop yapping,” one viewer wrote, while another added: “Just answer the question!”

The criticism kept coming. “How many nights is this on? Awful rehash of the show. I give it one series,” one fan said. Another was even harsher: “It’s bloody awful. Just turns it into a guessing game without any strategy and decision making.”

Some branded it “Pound shop TV”, while another joked: “A show where the prize gets worse as the show goes on… who green lit that?”

Despite the backlash, the first episode did crown a winner. Firefighter Simon Williams from London walked away with £20,000 — after what he admitted was a “total guess”.

Clarkson asked him: “Which of these characters has not appeared in a film directed by Ridley Scott?” with the options Hannibal Lecter, Rick Deckard, Paul Atreides and Ellen Ripley. Simon guessed Paul Atreides — and it paid off.

Simon said he planned to spend the money on a family holiday, a trip to the Maldives with his girlfriend and a football season ticket for his son.

The episode also highlighted how unforgiving the format can be. One contestant was immediately eliminated after failing to answer a passed question about the ingredients in a Caesar salad.

As she exited, Jeremy bluntly summed it up: “I’m afraid we do now have to say goodbye… what a brutal game! It’s so brutal.”

While a handful of viewers admitted they “quite liked” the shake-up, the overwhelming reaction was brutal.