Greenbelt man wins $25K in recent episode; Lanham woman on tonight’s show

Being a contestant on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” has been a dream of many people throughout the country since the show’s American debut in August 1999.

Greenbelt resident Anthony Sloan, 41, was able to realize his dream — and come home with $25,000 — after appearing in a recent episode.

Sloan appeared in the “hot seat” on an episode that aired Aug. 11, his 41st birthday, and continued the next night. Sloan left the show winning $25,000, after making it to the $100,000 question.

“It was a great experience,” Sloan said. “I loved it.”

Sloan isn’t the only Prince George’s County resident to appear recently on the show.

Lanham resident Jackie Adamson is one of 10 contestants who appears on tonight’s episode of “Millionaire.” Adamson, 45, couldn’t reveal before the airing whether or not she advanced to the hot seat.

The episodes are part of an 11-show special celebrating the show’s 10th anniversary. The special edition series of the show, which is taped in New York, airs until Sunday and is hosted by Regis Philbin.

Both Sloan and Adamson said they have wanted to be on the show since its debut.

An avid watcher, Sloan records episodes he isn’t able to watch as they air. A stay-at-home father of three, he has auditioned for the show a number of times. He has also called in and answered questions on the phone and gone to the live auditions.

No matter how you audition, you have to wait for a phone call from the show to let you know you’ve been accepted, Sloan explained. “You have to be really dedicated.”

Adamson estimates she has auditioned at least 50 times.

“I saw someone win $1 million and thought it was something I wanted to do — I was determined to get on,” she said. “I watched it every night and learned so many things from it.”

Sloan made it to the first show after a harrowing day.

Returning from a family vacation in Albuquerque, N.M., Sloan was caught up in delays from storm and tornado watches and wasn’t able to fly the entire route to New York. He was able to keep in touch with the studio and take a train from Washington, D.C., to the city, but even that train was delayed.

Sloan finally made it to his hotel in New York at about 4 a.m. but only had a few hours of sleep before heading to the studio at 6:30 a.m.

Once on the show as one of 10 contestants, he won the “fastest finger” question to get into the “hot seat” to start answering questions.

Sloan said he had no problems with the camera and wasn’t nervous at all. He joked with Philbin and kept his cool, even under the strenuous circumstances of his arrival.

He left the show winning $25,000 after making it to the $100,000 question. He had used his “lifelines” the first night but was able to successfully answer the questions for $25,000 and $50,000 on his own.

The question for $100,000 was, “What state has voted for the winning candidate in 24 of the last 25 presidential elections, the best percentage in the U.S.?”

“I was pretty confident before the choices were displayed on the screen,” Sloan said.

Sloan answered Ohio, but the correct answer is Nevada.

“It’s something my wife and I discussed,” Sloan explained. “If you think you know it, take the chance. If you definitely don’t know it and you don’t have lifelines, walk away.”

Originally published at The Gazette.