Gabe Okoye and girlfriend Brittany Mayti will get another chance to win some cash.
The couple, who lost $800,000 on FOX’s “Million Dollar Money Drop” on Monday have been invited back to the game show to try their hand at winning yet again.
“Unfortunately the information our research department originally obtained from 3M regarding when Post-it notes were first sold was incomplete,” Jeff Apploff, “Million Dollar Drop’s” executive producer said in a statement to Access on Thursday. “As a result of new information we have received from 3M, we feel it is only fair to give our contestants, Gabe and Brittany, another shot to play ‘Million Dollar Money Drop’ even though this question was not the deciding question in their game.
“The revised information regarding the Post-it is as follows: the product was originally tested for sale in four cities under the name ‘Press ‘N Peel’ in 1977, sold as ‘Post-its’ in 1979 when the rollout introduction began and sold nationwide in 1980. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the viewers who brought this to our attention, and we’re thrilled to give Gabe and Brittany the opportunity to return to play the game,” he added.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Gabe and Brittany lost $800,000 on the FOX show on Monday night after giving a supposedly incorrect answer about the first sale date of Post-It notes – but was the answer truly incorrect?
“At the time, I thought [FOX] was correct,” Gabe told Kit Hoover and guest co-host Lisa Rinna when he stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Wednesday. “I guess it wasn’t.”
On the game show, the couple was asked which product was first to be sold in stores in the U.S.: Post-It Notes, the Macintosh computer, or the Walkman. The duo chose Post-It Notes, and watched as $800,000 of their winnings disappeared – but the couple was technically correct, as the sticky notes were market tested in stores in four cities in 1977, beating the Walkman, which hit stores in 1979.
“I went on the Internet [after we lost], and I researched all of the questions [we were asked], and [the Post-It] one came up,” Gabe told Kit and Lisa. “I was kind of taken aback by it because I thought the answer was a little it earlier, but… [I] trust that FOX did their research on it.”
Jeff Apploff, “Million Dollar Money Drop’s” executive producer, released a statement regarding the gaff on Wednesday, saying, “The integrity of the questions and answers on our show are our No. 1 priority. In this case, our research team spoke directly with 3M, and they confirmed that although they had given out free samples in test markets in 1977 and 1978, it wasn’t until 1980 that Post-Its were officially sold in stores.”
However, the network has yet to contact Gabe directly.
“Nobody’s really made any kind of statement [to us],” Gabe told Kit and Lisa. “Right now it’s just a bunch of Internet blogs and stuff like that right now.
“Ew! I wanna just give [the money] to you! You need to have that money!,” Lisa exclaimed. “Come on! It’s too close.”
Kit agreed, asking, “Shouldn’t [the show] just have you back on?”
“If they decide to [give us the money] then that’s their decision, if not, then, you know, it is what it is,” Gabe told Access’ riled-up hosts. “Honestly, it was a lot of money — you start thinking about what you could do with it, trying to help the family out.
“That’s really what we wanted to do with it, is just help our families out,” Gabe concluded.
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