One British game show is now offering a new prize that just perfectly encompasses just how dire the European energy crunch actually is, and that prize is the paying off of the contestants’ heating bill for a period of time.
The show in question, titled “This Morning,” sports a segment that is called “Spin to Win,” where its hosts spin a wheel full of prizes on behalf of people who call in. In the shows past, the players vied for cash prizes, but now there a wedge seated on the wheel that offers to provide money to pay off heating bills for the remainder of the year.
“This week we’ve got our usual cash prizes, but you could also win some extra cash to pay your energy bills until the end of the year,” claimed the show’s host, Phillip Schofield. “That’s four months of energy bills taken care of.”
Holly Willoughby, the show’s co-host, spoke up about the newly unveiled prize, “Wow, that’s very important right now.”
people are going to freeze to death this year because of energy crisis. turning it into light entertainment is beyond bleak. pic.twitter.com/xxrS90jgGG
— Ben Smoke (@bencsmoke) September 5, 2022
All across Europe, many are struggling to deal with the rising costs of their energy bills as a result of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine sending the cost of their previously abundant natural gas prices soaring. Sanctions against Russia, which has long been the main source of natural gas for Europe, along with Russia’s attempts to fight back against Europe have caused the bills of homeowners and shopkeepers alike to spike by almost ten times in some cases.
Among all other countries, however, Germany has been the hardest his due to this, and just last week, Russia revealed its plan to start cutting off its gas supply entirely via Nord Stream 1.
“This is not normal at all. It’s incredibly volatile,” explained a senior analyst at Rystad Energy, Fabian Rønningen, of these high energy prices all across Germany this past Tuesday. “These prices are reaching levels now that we thought we would never see.”
RIP Europe
"At current forward prices, we estimate that energy bills will peak early next year at c.€500/month for a typical European family, implying c.200% increase vs. 2021. For Europe as a whole, this implies a c.€2 TRILLION surge in energy bills, or c.15% of GDP" pic.twitter.com/8LUpt1iEn9
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 5, 2022
The rising bills were quite surely on the mind of the first caller into the television program since the new prize was put into the pool.
“I’ve got one of these prepayment meters and it’s absolutely murder,” stated the man.
When the wheel actually landed on the energy payments, he was overjoyed.
“Oh my God! Thank you! Fantastic, what a relief, thank you very much!”
Various viewers stated the new prize was just a quite “sad reflection” of the country’s energy issues.
“‘This Morning’ having ‘energy bills’ as a prize on their ‘Spin to Win’ is the most dystopian and sad reflection on society right now,” expressed one person via social media. “How did we get to this point? Madness.”
“When you can win the prize of having your energy bills paid and they pretend like it’s a good thing, that’s when you know this country is f***ed,” concluded another viewer.