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Tradie wins $1Million Dollar Prize on The Big Adventure

Tradie Mark Sellar becomes only the 4th person to win a $1M cash prize on Australian TV.

tbad2Adelaide tradie Mark Sellar has won one million dollars in Seven’s reality series The Big Adventure -only the fourth Australian to win the mammoth cash prize on Australian television.

The 27-year-old had seven out of the 12 “golden keys” on offer, one of which opened up a chest full of cash.

He defeated Real Estate Agent Natalia and HR Coordinator Julie to win the series, after the elimination Paula and Sean.

“I cannot believe that has just happened. I’m a millionaire! I’ve actually got a million dollars! This is the most spectacular moment of my entire life. My dreams have completely come true,” he said.

The finale, which stretched for more than two and a half hours, saw the final hour dominated by the opening of empty chests, until Mark hit pay dirt.

Only two other shows have given away a $1 million cash prize on Australian TV: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Big Brother.

However Seven’s ambitious series, which many noted emulated Survivor, struggled in the ratings before moving timeslots several times. Some TV Tonight readers criticised episode length, casting, storytelling and gameplay.

But Seven’s knack for having a go with a new format should not be overlooked, strategically placed at the end of the year to minimise it’s knock-on effect.

17 Responses

  1. I enjoyed the show to a certain extent and stayed through to the end. But….. the pace…. and…. editing just…. dragged…. on…. I had to watch it on catch up and had already seen spoilers for the winner but I zoned out completely whilst doing the washing up while all those bloody boxes got opened. I hope it’s given another shot but with some major re-tooling.

  2. I watched the whole series of The Big Adventure and enjoyed it for what it was but 2 things were done terribly in the final 2 eps.

    1 – That Hangman game was stupid, wasn’t fair to any of the contestants except the one closest to the left.
    2. The dig up segment was a total borefest – you knew what one would have the million just from the runtime of the show.

  3. I think one of the biggest failings of this show was the host. What 7 paid him would have been absurd, considering the cost of the mobile dental clinic he would’ve needed to ensure his daily teeth bleaching went off without interruption. 7, here’s a tip. We are sick of seeing sculptured hosts. And the casting of the show was less than appealing. The thoughts of the contestants every 15 seconds was painful. I think one of the girls was there for the money, not to make friends

  4. Congrats to Mark despite the dull format..
    From what I saw he definitely deserved to win as he appeared to be the strongest player by far and head and shoulders above the others in ability.

  5. I agree with you David.
    Well done to Seven for trying somethng new …again.
    Not every new format is going to be a success – but at least they are investing in local development.
    Both MKR and House Rules were raised from the same roots – witout Seven continually giving it a go we would be facing a very blocky landscape.

  6. Science101: Gravity sucks *

    FTAProgramming: Reality shows suck **

    * Gravity doesn’t actually suck… it’s all to do with bodies distorting the time/space….

    ** Reality TV shows don’t actually suck…. wait, wat? They do!

  7. Admittedly, I hadn’t seen any of the other episodes. I watched the last hour of the show, and it was just dull. Digging up boxes for half an hour or so with the host saying” you have the golden key. It’s time to open the box” was repetitive and boring TV.

  8. I thought it was a spoiler also until I realized that more than one box was going to be dug up. Mark ended up digging up 5 I think and that shot you’re talking about J Bar just showed him turning the key on a box it didn’t actually show him opening it so I don’t think it was a spoiler even though he ended up winning.

  9. Seven can’t seem to control themselves with spoilers for these reality shows. In one of the “coming up” segments about half an hour before the end they actually showed the trunk with the money in it and a male hand that opened the trunk. Since the other two remaining contestants were female, this was a big spoiler. Dumb!

  10. I just don’t know why they’d give away a million (as it is a lot for a prize give away on Australian TV). If I were giving away a million, I would first want to determine if the first season was going to be a success or not and start out with your average $250,000. But I would assume that Channel 7 would think that by promising 1 million – that would draw in the viewers. Hmmm…

  11. He may have yelled “I’m a millionaire! I’ve actually got a million dollars!” But also yelled as long as 7 air the entire series!! If they hadnt it wouldnt have seen a cent!!

  12. Seriously that last segment took forever. I reckon there were at least 4 ad breaks from the start of the dig until Mark actually dug up the money. Congrats to him though he played the best game and deserved it.

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