The Secret Millionaire

The Secret Millionaire is a British reality television show in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousand of pounds (or hundreds of thousands of dollars (U.S. version)). Members of the community are told the cameras are present due to a documentary filming, unrelated to the show or millionaires themselves. It is produced by the independent production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It first aired in 2006 on the UK's Channel 4, with a second season playing in 2007.

An American version was ordered by Fox Broadcasting, which premiered December 3, 2008.

The first millionaire to appear in the series was 26 year-old Ben Way. A third series of the show began on Channel 4 on 5 August 2008. The first episode of Series 3 featured businessman James Benamor, who has been criticised in the mediaby investing in the sub-prime market and sharp practice in his company the Richmond Group. A 10-part fourth series is expected to air in Spring 2009.

Like the British version, the Fox show will feature wealthy benefactors each week that will go undercover in the most deprived neighborhoods of the United States. For approximately ten days, the millionaires will mingle within the community and live on a very low-cost budget, for few this being the very first time. At the end of the show, the millionaires reveal their identities and proceed to give a minimum of $100,000 (which can be divided among the recipients).

Fox has ordered six episodes of the hour-long series, which includes a two-hour premier. The millionaires include Internet Advertising tycoon Gurbaksh Chahal Todd and Gwen Graves, of the restaurant chain Raising Cane's; Century Software founder Gregory Haerr; DUB Magazine founders Myles and Cynthia Kovacs attorney, broker and sportswear entrepreneur Gregory Ruzicka, and his son Cole; and Baltimore, Maryland civic leader and Baltimore Ravens NFL cheerleader Molly Shattuck