HE has spent the past eight years advising contestants to take their time to answer questions that could win a £1m jackpot.

But Chris Tarrant, host of the ITV quiz Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, might now regret his patient approach to life. He and fellow Millionaire executives, and the American buyout firm Carlyle, have missed this weekend’s deadline for final-round bids for the global rights to the programme — expected to fetch £100m.

Sources said the Tarrant-fronted consortium had failed to table an offer. Ironically, Tarrant was reported last week to have signed a £6m deal to present Millionaire, one of ITV’s flagship shows, for another two years.

Longacre Partners, the corporate-finance boutique that is handling the sale for Millionaire’s owner, the independent production company Celador, is likely to take pity on Tarrant and extend the deadline.

At least three other parties lodged bids on Friday. Endemol and its co-founder Jon de Mol are understood to be interested as separate bidders. 2waytraffic, an AIM-quoted media firm set up by former Endemol executives, also made an offer.

Millionaire has been a huge international success and is shown in 106 countries. Since its launch in 1998, Tarrant has given away £45m in prize money and fired questions at more than 1,000 contestants.