A couple will get another chance to win on a TV game show after they lost $800,000 on a question despite answering it correctly.

On last week’s season premiere of the new FOX game show Million Dollar Money Drop, contestants Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayti were asked: “Which product was sold in stores first: Post-it Notes, the Apple Macintosh, or the Sony Walkman?”

Gabe was sure it was Post-it Notes and convinced Brittany that they should wager the majority of their winnings on the answer. They wagered $800,000 of the $880,000 they still held out of the $1 million the show challenged them to keep at the beginning. He was visibly devastated when the answer was revealed to be the Walkman, with the host explaining that the portable gadget was first sold in 1979, Post-It Notes followed in 1980, and Macintosh computer debuted in 1984.

Minutes later, they lost the remaining $80,000 and went home empty-handed and “devastated,” Mayti said.

Following the airing of the show, several news sources confirmed that Post-It was in fact the correct answer, forcing FOX to bow to the pressure and give the couple another chance at earning a fortune.

“Unfortunately, the information our research department originally obtained from 3M regarding when Post-it notes were first sold was incomplete,” executive producer Jeff Applof said in a statement 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.”

Apploff added: “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.”

How about just forking over the $800,000?

For those not in-the-know, the show gives teams of two bundles of cash worth $1 million at the start of the game. During each round, the money is placed on trap doors that correspond to the different possible answers. If an answer is wrong the money disappears down a “money drop” and is lost.

Brittany and Gabe, who are saving up for their wedding, say they harbor no ill will, but have not decided whether or not to accept FOX’s offer and come back to compete again.

“If they decide to [give us the money] then that’s their decision, if not, then, you know, it is what it is,” Gabe said shortly after losing the dough. “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.”

Written by Castina on December 27th, 2010 | Tagged as: TV,TV News