Frank Edoho has disclosed that his departure from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was due to the show’s sponsor withdrawing, rather than being fired, as widely reported.
Speaking on an edition of The KK Show that aired on Sunday, Edoho denied a newspaper story that he had been dismissed off the show.
The former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host remembered that he spent four years working at Radio Nigeria, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, before television gave him the fame that radio could not.
“I was on the radio. I worked for Radio Nigeria—that’s the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria—for four years.
“You know, once you can work on radio for four years but not get as much popularity or fame as you would if you worked on TV for one month,” he said.
Edoho stated that Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ended after its sponsor, who had backed the show for a decade, withdrew support following a regulatory penalty.
“So Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? sort of came to an end when our sponsor withdrew. I don’t know if I can mention brand names here, but our sponsor stayed with us for a decade, sponsoring the show,” he said.
He mentioned that the federal government had fined the sponsor over a corporate matter, and the resulting financial burden forced the company to end its involvement with the show.
“I think the federal government fined them based on some industry… I think it was just like a punitive measure for one corporate thing that happened.
“I can’t go into details, but that affected the sponsorship of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? So they said, ‘Hey guys, we can’t do this anymore based on the fact that we have to pay an incredible sum of money back to the federal government,’ he said.
Edoho stated that he began negotiations for a stake in the show after learning that new sponsors were interested, claiming that his time on the program had made him an asset to it.
“I went into negotiation because we heard that other sponsors were interested, and I wanted to be an executive producer.
“I wanted to have a stake in it because I feel that I built myself up to the extent that I assumed I was an asset to the show,” he said.
He mentioned that the negotiations broke down over disagreements, and his absence from the relaunched show under its new sponsor led to speculation that he had been dropped.
“We were having differences in negotiation. I think it was one newspaper that went and said that I was dropped based on the fact that, with the relaunch of the show under the new sponsor, I wasn’t anywhere to be found. And of course, they would draw conclusions based on that,” he explained.
He mentioned that the report of his sacking was untrue, describing the experience as a betrayal after years of work on the show.
He said, “So they announced that I was dropped from the show, which was false then. I gave my statement. I said, ‘Okay, you know what? This is it.’ I felt I was thrown under the bus after all the years I put in.”
Edoho hosted the show for 13 years, from 2004 to 2017, before leaving in September 2017. The show went on a break in 2017 after 13 years on broadcast after its sponsor, MTN Nigeria, backed out.
Following his exit, sources at the time stated Edoho had been dropped from the show as it prepared to return under a new sponsor.
He returned to the series in 2022, when it relaunched after a five-year absence with a revised cash prize and new sponsors.
