EXCLUSIVE: 'Million Dollar Money Drop' Host on Spurned Contestants: 'They Would Have Lost Anyways'

While the 'Million Dollar Money Drop' controversy rages on the internet, host Kevin Pollak tells The Hollywood Reporter that there is an angle to the story that many people are missing -- Gabe Okoye and girlfriend Brittany Mayti legitimately lost the game on the next question anyways.

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"They never had a chance to win that money. Ever. No matter what," Pollak tells THR. "They got the last question wrong. None of the clips show the last question."

Instead, what the viral YouTube clips show is the couple in deep despair after losing $800,000 on a Post-it note answer deemed correct days after their elimination on the show. Pollak points out that even if the couple had been awarded the cash for that question, they still would have met the same demise on the show.

"This story is a moot point. They lost everything on the next question. It's a non-story." says Pollak. "There's one aspect of the story that hasn't been covered that much."

Pollak says he is pleased regardless that the couple has been invited to participate on the show again, but not pleased that they are said to be hesitant to return due to the pressure of the show.

"I say right on," he says of the do-over episode. "But now they are saying there's too much pressure? Oh my God! Way to get the country to turn against you."

"That's interesting, they would make such a stink and then ultimately maybe not come back," he says.

Pollak, who took time to speak while promoting the Kevin Pollak Chat Show podcast, says he hasn't been enjoying the controversy even if it has provided publicity for the Fox program due to return on Tuesday, Jan. 4. When asked if the outcry has been fun in any way, he responded, "Oh gosh no."

"There's a lot of talk about this on Twitter when it first broke in the guise of 'this show is awful, look what it's done to these people.' It was all I could do not to Tweet, first and foremost they would have lost anyway."

"To say that this was enjoyable would not be inaccurate."

While the offending research mistake was made by 3M, the company behind Post-it Notes,  Pollak says he's even had spirited discussions on the controversy at holiday parties.

"Accosted might be too strong a word, but (I've been) softly confronted, yes," he says. "Most often it was respectful confrontation as opposed to outrage. And ultimately it would turn to this point -- are you enjoying the show otherwise? And that enjoyment is across the board."

For more of this interview, click here.