ST. ALBANS, W.Va. — Cheers came from elementary students at the St. Francis of Assisi School in St. Albans as they watched a Catholic priest on the TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
Rev. Father Bill Matheny, a contestant on the show, was at the school Wednesday morning to watch the taped telecast on WSAZ-TV. Matheny went to school at St. Francis and said he plans on donating much of his winnings to the school.
“This was where I got my start, the foundation of my education,” he told MetroNews. “My love for learning happened here.”
Currently, he’s the priest at All Saints Catholic Church in Bridgeport. During his visit to St. Francis, students watched as Matheny answered questions from “Millionaire” host Chris Harrison.
After several correct “final answers”, Harrison exclaimed, “The man is on fire!”
Matheny didn’t announce how much money he actually won because the second part of the show won’t air until Thursday at 11 a.m. He was able to reach $250,000 at the close of Wednesday’s episode.
Erin Sakora, principal at St. Francis, said having Matheny at the school meant a lot to her and her students.
“For the children, I think it’s a wonderful example. There’s a good Christian man who excels academically — what is he doing? He’s giving back to others, to children to help with their education,” Sakora said. “That’s what Catholic school is all about. It’s a big community and it’s stayed with him for all of these years.”
But getting on “Millionaire” wasn’t easy for Matheny. He said he applied to be on the show at least twice a year for more than a decade. When he finally stepped on stage, he said it was “unbelievable”.
“I couldn’t believe it was actually happening,” he said. “I was crying. I never cry!”
“One of the good things about ‘Millionaire’ is that I’m not competing against someone else like when I was on ‘Jeopardy’ three years ago. I had to compete against two other people. This was much nicer. Everyone was much more supportive,” Matheny said.
Not much preparation was needed for Matheny. He said he read a book on cultural literacy, but other than that, he said he lucked out on the questions he received.
“Some of those questions they asked other people were really tough and I think I was fortunate I got questions that were right in my wheel house,” he said.
Family members, friends and his church community weren’t all that surprised he got a spot on the show, Matheny said.
“I was always kind of a book worm,” he said. “I played sports, but I was more known for the school work. They’re probably not surprised I’m up there. They’re probably surprised I did as well as I did.”
Wednesday’s show was viewed by other pastors, teachers, parents and children.