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Million Dollar Secret is a new Netflix reality show where… the prize is a million dollars… and if you have it, you can only win it, if you keep it a secret.
Hence, Million… Dollar… Secret…
Hosted by Peter Serafinowicz, best known to some as the Sommellier in John Wick Chapter 2, or to me as Pete, Shaun’s flatmate in Shaun of the Dead, and in various roles in BBC2’s Look Around You, as well as co-writing it with Robert Popper, more recently better known for writing Friday Night Dinner.
But back to this, and there are 12 contestants, and not an equal split between men and women, as there are 7 women, and 5 men. A few of them look very annoying, whether if it’s because of endless tattoos, a goatee, or the fact that “Sydnee” can’t spell her own name.
Anyhoo, one of them becomes a millionaire at random, and they only find out when they’re set to their bedrooms to open the box within.
The others have to work out who HAS the money, while the millionaire will only get to keep it, if they… keep it a secret!
So, it’s The Traitors all over again, but do you have a good poker face? Well, I once had a girlfriend who often said, “I can never tell what you’re thinking….”
But in reality, it’s mostly food, videogames, or the first ten seasons of The Simpsons, constantly in a loop going round my head.
Still, whoever IS the millionaire, they are now “the prey”, and they’ll be given extra tasks known as their ‘secret agenda’, such as being to try and hug everyone in the group. If they achieve it, they get two extra votes when it comes to the elimination round.
However, everyone has been told to look out for “odd behaviour”.
When it comes to the activities they have to take part in, the details of which I’ll leave for you to watch in the programme, whoever wins an activity will get info about the billionaire as they’ll gain access to the trophy room.
Those who qualify to enter the trophy room will each say the name of the person they think is the millionaire, although I was thinking that if the millionaire is one of these people, then they’ll come up with any old name to throw everyone off the scent. Just depends whether or not they have that poker face.
Peter Serafinowicz will then state if the money is in one of those… but not which one, since that would rather give the game away, and this has to last eight episodes!
Each day, at the elimination dinner, everyone gets to vote who they think it is, and whoever gets the most votes is out, regardless of whether they are they millionaire or not. So, it’s The Weakest Link, in that respect.
And I can exclusive reveal that the millionaire is… ooh look, they’ve got an infinity pool!
Sorry, what was I talking about? Anyhoo, while I’m not sure I’d watch this all until the end, fans of shows like The Traitors will love it, and it’ll probably also run for about 30 years.
Unlike most Netflix shows, you don’t get all episodes in one go. Three tomorrow, three next Wednesday – April 2nd, and the final two on the following Wednesday, April 9th.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Million Dollar Secret is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from tomorrow.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: March 26th 2025 (first 3 episodes)
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.00:1
Presenter: Peter Serafinowicz
Writers: Briana Danielle Cosgrave, Qiydaar Foster
Contestants:
Cara Keis, 29, Cook
Chris Allen, 34, CEO
Corey Niles, 38, Builder
Harry Donenfeld, 59, Photographer
Jaimi Alexander, 42, Life coach
Kyle Wimberly, 27, Construction worker
Lauren Jean, 35, stay-at-home mum
Lydia Blair, 64, Retired
Phillip Roundtree, 41, College professor
Samantha Hubbard, 41, police officer
Se Young Metzroth, 35, VP
Sydnee Falkner, 32, Medical sales
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.