• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content

Home> Entertainment

Updated 10:21 5 Jun 2023 GMT+1Published 12:30 3 Jun 2023 GMT+1

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

Charles Ingram cheated his way to £1million on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Viewers think they've spotted the moment when a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant was cheating.

Charles Ingram was the ex-army Major at the centre of the famous 2001 cheating scandal during an episode of the ITV's renowned quiz show.

The legendary episode sees host Chris Tarrant ask Ingram the million pound question of: "A number one followed by one hundred zeros is known by what name?"

Advert

The options were A) Googol B) Megatron C) Gigabit or D) Nanomole.

After a long wait, Ingram 'decided' the correct answer of A) Googol.

Viewers think they've spotted the moment when a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? contestant was cheating.
ITV

However, it later emerged that his wife Diana and accomplice Tecwen Whittock used cheating tactics which included coughing at answers throughout the show.

The trio were eventually found guilty of conspiring to cheat to win the £1m ($1.25m) jackpot.

Advert

Instead of winning £1million, the Ingrams' cheating cost them a massive £115,000.

After watching the footage back, some viewers think they've figured out the moment when the contestant gave up his master plan.

"If you've been watching this show closely for a long time, you'd notice that Ingram's behaviour is so much different than your regular contestant," one fan explained.

The trio were eventually found guilty of conspiring to cheat to win the £1m ($1.25m) jackpot.
ITV

"A non-cheating contestant would never risk his/her money if they have absolutely no clue what the answer is.

Advert

"The norm is to take the money and not risk it especially if the money won is a huge amount already. Ingram has never heard of 'googol' and yet he was willing to risk £480K on it.

"It doesn't make any sense. And you can tell that he was drawing blanks on most of those questions too.

"Now, compare him to John Carpenter who won $1M in the US version and you'll see how different their approaches were.

"John's way is how an intelligent player plays."

Another added: "The confidence he gains in explaining his choices once he's heard that cough is hilarious lol."

Advert

"His actual knowledge ended at £1,000," a third commented.

Instead of winning £1million, the Ingrams' cheating cost them a massive £115,000.
ITV

Well, speaking about the scandal during an interview with The Mirror, Tarrant admitted that he 'had no idea what was happening' at the time.

"I'm sitting there, eyeball to eyeball with this guy and bearing in mind I've sort of been on telly all my life, it was probably one of the most amazing, forget about what happened afterwards," he said.

"It was just one of the most amazing TV shows I've ever done because people were screaming, shouting booing, gasping, applauding, standing, coughing because everybody coughs in television.

Advert

"I didn't notice this bloke about two inches away, looking behind them for a cough and all that, bearing in mind, the guy was a serving British Army Major in great big close-ups.

"You would never expect that to happen, would you?"

Featured Image Credit: ITV

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

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

X

@Anish_Vij

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
3 hours ago
7 hours ago
  • Netflix
    2 hours ago

    Stand your ground law explained as woman shoots her neighbour in chilling Netflix documentary

    The intense Netflix documentary releases tomorrow

    Entertainment
  • Instagram/Niko Omilana
    2 hours ago

    Niko Omilana breaks silence on unseen Celebrity Traitors roundtable experience

    Niko Omilana took to Instagram to call-out the 'worst Faithfuls ever'

    Entertainment
  • Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
    3 hours ago

    Channing Tatum speaks out over fears crew were 'concerned' by drastic weight loss

    Channing Tatum spoke to LADbible about transforming for his role as a real-life prison escapee

    Entertainment
  • Getty/Dimitrious Kambouris
    7 hours ago

    Kim Kardashian shares ‘final straw’ that ended marriage with Kanye West

    Kim Kardashian and Kanye West divorced in 2022

    Entertainment
  • Horrific statement that led Big Brother contestant to be booted from house finally revealed
  • The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire question which 'exposed' Charles Ingram as a cheater
  • Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant accidentally speaks before she thinks and loses winnings
  • Deal or No Deal contestant who said he will die soon responds to viewers raising thousands