WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren OhioBehind the scenes at Cash Explosion

Behind the scenes at Cash Explosion

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Cash Explosion is the only weekly lottery game show still on television in the United States.

Cash Explosion is celebrating 25 years of giving away money.

The format of the show has changed throughout the years, but the excitement has never stopped while the money has gotten even bigger.

"We needed to modernize it a little bit. Obviously the money is way bigger than it was when we first started. But if you talk to anybody who has come to our show, I think it's like a whole experience which is a little bit different than when we first started because we were very concerned about just getting the show up and there were certain things. But now it's just as much about the audience as it is about our contestants," said host Sharon Bicknell.

Bicknell has been with Cash Explosion since its start in 1987 and fellow co-hosts Cherie McClain and David McCreary have all been on the air together for the past five years.

As each episode of Cash Explosion is taped the reactions of each contestant aren't rehearsed and there have even been exchanges of kisses and hugs between strangers.

"Some people are so overwhelmed by the amount of money that they're winning that they don't know what to do with themselves. We have other people who run out on the studio floor and dance. We've had people break dance in the middle of the studio floor. I tell the story of one guy who was so happy he grabbed the guy next to him and put him in a headlock and kissed him on top of the head because he was thrilled about what he won," said Holly Berger, producer of Cash Explosion.

Each contestant will walk away with a minimum of $5,000 and there's only one way to have your chance at thousands of dollars. A scratch off ticket is your only chance of getting in the studio and the $1 ticket can win you thousands of dollars.

"You're a winner walking into this place, believe me. My father won a lot of money in 1975. He won $300,000 so of course my family has always been very heavily into the lottery," said Judith Dunlap from East Liverpool.