Bragging is never good. In any situation. Why? Because if that brag is followed by complete failure to live up to expectation you look like a mug.
For example – and I understand this means absolutely nothing to you – before I go on holiday I steer clear of airport pictures or ‘See you later England!’ captions for fear of boarding a plane that crashes and kills me. I’d look a prat forever, and wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. That’s life! (Or death.)
Likewise this medical school graduate who recently embarked upon Who Wants To Be A Millionaire should not have given it large about how clever he supposedly was because, whaddaya know, within one question he was goners.
This was his statement in full:
I remember watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire as a kid with Regis hosting the show and it was such a phenomenon. Ten million people watching a show about smart people every night. Celebrating being smart. And I thought, ‘You know what? Maybe it’s not so bad being smart. Maybe it’s not so bad being a nerd. Maybe it’s cool smart.’ And I followed that all the way and I just graduated medical school.
It’s not the worst, but it’s still pretty bad, isn’t it? That’s almost a humble brag in regards to him gassing about the cultural importance of a game show.
When you see the question, though, any sympathy you may still have will go out of the window.
Watch the video here:
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That’s right, young Brenton was asked: ‘Snapping selfies in kitchens you can’t afford and taking a ‘meatball break’ are two things BuzzFeed says every twentysomething does on their first trip where?’
Tip: if you’re given a set of possible answers and one of them sticks out considerably, pick that answer. I mean, I shouldn’t even have to say that because who takes selfies in the kitchens of Paris, London or Rome?
Well, in Rome according to Brenton.
He justified his answer, saying:
I’ll tell you what, I do think they serve meatballs in IKEA. I don’t think that’s the right answer though. It sounds like it’s got to be Rome to me. In fact if I won a million dollars I would love to take a trip to Italy. I’m going to say Rome. Final answer.
Brenton can take solace in the fact he isn’t the first person to crash and burn at the first hurdle on Millionaire.
No one did as bad so quick as university student Chase Sampson from Nashville, Tennessee. Almost 10 years prior to Brenton’s chaotic appearance on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Sampson answered his first $100 question incorrectly much to the dismay of then-host MereDith Vieira.
Quizzed on what unexpected surges homeowners buy surge protector to protect their possessions from, Chase confidently – not to mention foolishly – went for ‘water flow’ before electric current, air pressure and buyer’s remorse.
He paid the price and somewhat deservedly has never been seen again, except here, which is probably the last place he’ll want to be seen. Oh well.
Remember folks, if you’re gonna go on TV as a professional egghead, make sure you’re not an idiot first.
