Hardee makes appearance on 'Millionaire'

Catherine Hardee participated in her second nationally televised game show, as her episode of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ was aired Wednesday. Hardee was a contestant on ‘Jeopardy’ in 2014 and 2015. Photo courtesy ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’

By Junious Smith III

One game show wasn’t enough for Catherine Hardee.

On Wednesday, Hardee’s appearance on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” aired, in which the Kinston resident and Neuse News correspondent won $5,000 after answering five questions correctly on the show. In 2014, Hardee made her first appearance on “Jeopardy,” becoming a four-time champion and then a semifinalist in the show’s Tournament of Champions one year later.

Hardee said it took her four tries to make it on “Jeopardy” — she sent her first application in 2009 — and she gave it two tries for “Millionaire.”

“The first time I applied, I drove to Philadelphia in 2017 to participate,” Hardee said. “I was unsuccessful there, but I put in another application online in May 2018 and got it. They let me know in June and I had about two weeks to prepare before flying out to Las Vegas to tape the show in July.”

Despite her game show acumen, Hardee said the dynamics were much different the second time around.

“I felt more pressure being on ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’,” Hardee said. “In ‘Jeopardy,’ there are two other people you’re competing with and if you miss a question, you can recover. If you don’t know the answer, you don’t have to ring in and can move on to the next question. With ‘Millionaire,’ you have to answer every question and if you make one mistake, the game is over.”

Due to an agreement, Hardee is unable to participate on another game show for a year after the initial “Millionaire” airing, but she said she’ll apply immediately after she’s eligible again, which will be April 24, 2020.

“I’m not sure which one I want to do yet,” Hardee said. “‘Wheel Of Fortune’ is definitely an option, along with ‘$100,000 Pyramid’ and ‘Mental Samurai.’”