Cheating Scandal
In April 2003, British Army Major Charles Ingram, his wife Diana and college lecturer Tecwen Whittock were convicted of using fraudulent means to win £1 million on the UK version of the show when Ingram was a contestant on the show in September 2001. The allegation was that when host Chris Tarrant asked a question, Whittock, one of that edition's nine other Fastest Finger First contestants, would cough in order to guide Ingram to the correct answer. Ingram won the £1 million top prize, but members of the production crew raised suspicions over Whittock's coughing along with the Ingrams' behavior after the recording, and the police were called in to investigate. The defense claimed that Whittock simply suffered from allergies, but all three were found guilty and given suspended sentences. They maintained their innocence. After the trial, ITV screened a documentary about the scandal, along with Ingram's entire game, complete with Whittock's coughing sounds. As a joke, Benylin cough syrup paid to have the first commercial shown during the program's commercial break.
Read more about this topic: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (UK Game Show)
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—John Gay (1685–1732)
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