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Viewers spot moment they knew Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant was cheating

Home> Entertainment> TV

Published 16:18 11 Dec 2024 GMT

Viewers spot moment they knew Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant was cheating

He became famous for winning, then infamous for how he'd won

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

Featured Image Credit: ITV

Topics: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, ITV, TV

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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There is likely no more infamous Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant than Charles Ingram, the man who won a million quid and then ended up being mired in scandal as he faced allegations of cheating.

Things hadn't looked good for Ingram in the early stages of the ITV quiz show as he'd stumbled his way through the first few questions and didn't seem like much of a candidate to get close to the million pound prize.

However, Ingram's attempt was brought to a halt by the klaxon, which announced that it was time to end the show, and they'd have to pick things up when filming the next episode.

Upon his return Ingram played like a man transformed as he made it through question after question, though he took his time reading out all the answers over and over again while coughing noises were heard from the audience.

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After he won, his jackpot payout was suspended and an investigation from the producers of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire identified coughing from Ingram's wife Diana, herself a previous contestant on the show, and prospective contestant, Tecwen Whittock.

Charles Ingram gave multiple answers that he said he didn't know about. (ITV)
Charles Ingram gave multiple answers that he said he didn't know about. (ITV)

While the coughing is the famous thing that led to Ingram being caught, with him later being found guilty in court, many viewers who have revisited that moment in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire history reckon it's Ingram's behaviour that really gives the game away.

Coughing might be the signal sent to Ingram to tell him which answer to pick but viewers said 'Ingram's behaviour is so much different than your regular contestant'.

In question after question, he made it clear he didn't know what the answer was but didn't seem nearly nervous enough for a guy who stood to lose so much money if he got things wrong.

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On the final question, when he stood to win a million pounds or lose almost everything, Ingram said he didn't know what the correct answer 'googol' was, but claimed he was going off the logic that not knowing it might mean it was the right answer.

Viewers reckoned that 'a non-cheating contestant would never risk his/her money if they have absolutely no clue what the answer is'.

He never got his jackpot payout after producers became suspicious. (ITV)
He never got his jackpot payout after producers became suspicious. (ITV)

This confidence in a correct answer Ingram had previously said was wrong had previously manifested in a question about the album Born To Do It, which he'd had to use his 50/50 lifeline on.

Left with the answers of A1 or Craig David, Ingram said he thought the right answer was A1 but then switched his decision, claiming he was operating on the logic that '80 percent of the time I'm wrong'.

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From that point on, he was making big gambles on questions where he didn't know the answer, leaving those watching sure that something was up.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire executive producer Rod Taylor said: "It became obvious that he wasn't under the pressure that he should have been, somehow.

"He should have been very, very careful, and very certain. And he certainly wasn't."

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