Contestant Interview with Peter Sarrett

$250,000 WWTBAM Winner

Toeth: How long have you been tring to get on the show?

Peter: Ever since the phone-in game changed from a 900 number to a toll-free number. From that point on, I called almost every day. I qualified many, many times but only got the callback once, and tanked in the phone playoff.

Toeth: What did you do to prepare for the show?

Peter: Hurriedly assemble a list of 5 lifelines and try to figure out what clothes to wear. I brought the New York Public Library Desk Reference with me to study-- partly because it has lots of information in an easily-digestible format but mainly because it also has maps. I figured that cramming wasn't generally going to help, but that I had a good chance of being able to recall visual information. Since geography is a weak area, I thought it might pay off to study some maps. As it turned out I didn't get any geography questions, but the contestant who went on two players before me got a question that I knew the answer to only because I'd studied the map the previous night-- so my approach turned out to be sound.

Toeth: What was it like when you got the call from Millionaire?

Peter: I missed the call, and found a message on my answering machine. I was skeptical at first-- lots of my friends knew I was in the contestant pool, and I thought one of them might be playing a joke. But I called back the next day and discovered it was real, and was of course VERY excited. The timing was a close call. Just a day earlier I'd returned from a week vacation. They give you 24 hours to return their phone call, otherwise you go back into the contestant pool and lose your shot. If they'd called just a couple of days sooner, I'd have missed it completely.

Toeth: When you reached the hotseat, did you have a set goal of any type?





Peter: I felt I'd have self respect at $32,000, and I'd be very happy at $125,000. And above all, I didn't want to make a stupid mistake and leave with nothing.





Toeth: If you could do anything over again while you were on the show, what would it be, if anything?

Peter: I'd go with my gut on two of the questions for which I used lifelines and wound up sticking with my initial thought. Ultimately, that would have left me with one lifeline for the $500,000 question-- the phone a friend-- which MIGHT have helped. I haven't had a chance to ask the person I'd have called if he'd have known the answer. Otherwise, I feel pretty good about how things went. Oh, and I'd watch Do the Right Thing before flying out to New York (and thus get the $8,000 question without using a lifeline).

Toeth: What do you plan to do with your $250,000 after the taxes?





Peter: It's going in the bank until I figure out how to invest it more intelligently. I'll probably set some of it aside as a kind of "mad money" fund, to do things I might not otherwise do, but the vast majority of it will get sequestered with some soft candlelight and satin sheets in the hopes of producing lots of baby money.

Toeth: Have you ever tried to be or have been on any other game shows?

Peter: I auditioned for Jeopardy! once, but didn't pass the test.

Toeth: Thanks for sharing your Game show experience with us, enjoy the winnings!

Interview conducted July 25 2003.

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