Today show viewer opens up about $40K cash giveaway "nightmare"
Jenny Baker says she was extremely distressed after she claims there were technical difficulties which made her lose out on the Today show’s $40,000 cash giveaway.
The Nine breakfast show hosts a call-in competition called the “Mega-Cash-a-Roo Giveaway” every morning where in order to win, viewers text a code word given to them on each episode every day.
The hosts ring a random phone number, where the viewer must answer within three rings and say, “I wake up with Today.”
If the caller does not answer within three rings, miss the call or say a wrong word, the price is rolled over to the episode the next day and the cash prize is increased by $10,000.
On Thursday morning after seeing the “No Caller ID” call come on her phone, Jenny says she followed the instructions perfectly – only to be shut down.
“I could not believe it, I was sitting down with my mobile in hand and I [picked it up] and said, ‘I wake up with Today!’ and nobody answered,” she told News.com.au. “It was dead silent.”
She says in a panicked state she tried again after there was no response from the show's hosts.
“I said again, ‘I wake up with Today!’ and nobody was there at all, and then I heard them say, ‘Jenny Baker’ a couple of seconds later on TV, so I go, ‘I wake up with Today, please, please don’t hang up on me!’ And then the line went dead.”
“No, unfortunately it wasn't the words we needed,' said co-anchor Georgie Gardner as the call was quickly disconnected. “So close but so far!”
The 55-year old Mackay-based woman says she was “bawling” after the call ended and she knew she missed out on the whopping cash prize.
“I nearly collapsed, I was bawling my head off,” she said.
“I was a mess all day,” she continued. “Forty-thousand dollars. I don't work, I get $120 a fortnight to look after my mum as a carer, my husband was made redundant two years ago… Forty grand to me is huge.”
A spokesperson for the Today show told News.com.au, Nine can only award money to a winner who is heard saying the correct sentence on air.
“We hope our viewers win each and every day and we know they are all deserving of the prize, but to ensure a fair competition we have to abide by the terms and conditions each time.
“Viewers have three dial rings to answer and must clearly say the words ‘I wake up with Today.’
“The hosts hear what the control room hears — if there is a slightly ropy phone connection and we don’t hear the words ‘I wake up with Today’, then we cannot award the money. The hosts heard A word sadly — that’s it … Had they heard the SENTENCE we would have loved Jenny to win the money.”
Have you ever won money from a TV or radio show?