The Weakest Link was an Australian game show based on the successful UK format, which aired from 5 February 2001 until 22 April 2002 and was broadcast on the Seven Network. Presented by Cornelia Frances, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of $100,000. Airing twice weekly in primetime, on Mondays and Thursdays or Fridays, it received modest ratings until its cancellation in April 2002. The show was produced in the Seven Network's South Melbourne headquarters.
Format
The format of the Australian series was identical to that of the British version apart from some slight time differences on rounds. The first round lasted for 2 minutes and 30 seconds as opposed to 3 minutes on the British version, and each round thereafter was reduced by 10 seconds. As with the British version, any money banked in round eight was trebled. The money tree was as follows:
Question
Prize
9
$10,000
8
$8,000
7
$6,000
6
$4,500
5
$3,000
4
$2,000
3
$1,000
2
$500
1
$200
The voice-over was Marcus Irvine, while the adjudicator and question researcher was Alan Mason, the contestant revealed as The Mole in 2000. The money tree is the same figures as in the British version, but ten times larger, and in Australian dollars rather than pound sterling.
Special Editions
The show also featured several special editions throughout its run.
On 11 March 2002, a special episode included contestants from reality game showThe Mole, as part of a The Mole's third season. The episode featured the final 9 players participating in a game of The Weakest Link as part of a Challenge on The Mole, with the winner winning a "Free Pass" from the next elimination with the money won going to the kitty - the grand prize of The Mole game. Bob Young defeated Thao Nguyen in the final round. The prize money, $14,100, was the lowest amount won in any Australian episode of the Weakest Link, but the money and free pass were only awarded after it was proven that the contestants did not cheat backstage. On The Mole the prize money was rounded up to $15,000 as all kitties were rounded up to the nearest $1,000. This episode was watched by a nationwide audience of 1.312 million, well under what Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? achieved that night, with 1.51 million.
On 27 August 2001, a special edition made up of contestants from the first season of Big Brother in Australia aired. In this episode, Gordon Sloan defeated Anita Bloomfield in the final and won $31,600.
Prominent actor Graham K. Furness has also appeared on the show, in which he was the third contestant eliminated on a countback. Several contestants who have appeared on the show and were eliminated have since participated in other TV shows such as Millionaire Hot Seat.
The "Worst Loser Special" featured eliminated contestants from previous episodes, normally those who lost in early rounds or who lost in the final round.
There were two editions featuring teams made up of winners of previous episodes. In the latter of these, subtitled "The Best of the Best", a record $72,900 prize money was won. The highest amount won outside of specials was $56,300, whilst the lowest outside of specials was $14,800.
Notable contestants
Other than the celebrity contestants already mentioned above, Brydon Coverdale also appeared on the show once; he has since won $307,000 on Million Dollar Minute and is one of the Chasers on The Chase Australia, where he is nicknamed "The Shark".
