Did the cheaters on WWTBA Millionaire get any answers from outside of the studio?
This is regarding the infamous cheating by Charles Ingram on the UK version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".
In the documentary Millionaire: A Major Fraud, one guy who worked on the show says that he suspected that some of Ingram's accomplices in the audience may have had some sort of communication with the outside. As an example, he was saying there they could have had a device on them transmitting audio, and someone "with access to research materials" listening to that, while providing the answers back, for example by four vibrating devices located on four different parts of the recipient's body.
The documentary did not mention anything else regarding that. Were the people who helped him just knowledgeable enough to know all the answers? Or did they somehow get them from outside of the studio? Was this ever uncovered?
Best Answer
Tecwen Whittock, the man responsible for significant 'coughing' and ultimately found guilty of collaborating with Major Charles Ingram could not have been rigged up or using radio equipment, as he was a contestant himself.
The initial phase of the show, used to pick the candidate who will be playing, is a round called Fastest Finger First. A pool of pre-selected people contains 6-10 (depending on season/version) contestants, who have been prepared for Hair and Makeup (and obviously checked for any 'cheating') are lined around the edge of the set. If one is successful at answering the questions quickest, they are immediately summoned to the podium.
Tecwen was one such contestant.
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How did tecwen know the answers?
When Ingram was main stage, it was alleged that Whittock coughed every time the correct answer was read out. After the show finished filming, the sound team noticed Tecwen's timely coughs and he was also found to blow his nose whenever Ingram was about to pick the wrong answer.Did Diana Ingram go on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Diana Ingram is the wife of Charles Ingram from Wiltshire, who was accused of cheating in the UK version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in September, 2001. Diana was a contestant on the show herself on 9 April, 2001, winning \xa332,000 after answering her \xa364,000 question wrong.Did Diana Ingram write a book?
Diana's book But he explained the suspicious toing and froing. READ MORE: Did Charles Ingram ever get his Who Wants To Be A Millionaire prize money? As Quiz fans know, Diana was writing a book on how to win Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and one of her top tips was to listen to the audience's reaction.The Truth Behind The Cheater | Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
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Answer 2
From the same Wikipedia page that you link, there is a section for the trial and recorded evidence.
If there had been evidence of audio equipment, this would be the section where this information would be included.
Instead, the production company produced video evidence of some audience members coughing when Ingram read a correct answer aloud. (There may have been some instances where the audience members whispered "No" to one another when an incorrect answer was being discussed). In particular, a lecturer named Tecwen Whittock was also fined and given a sentence (as did both Charles and his wife).
Here is some relevant info from the page:
The show's production company Celador suspended the £1 million payout after they suspected Ingram had cheated. Production staff accused Ingram and his wife of defrauding the show by having an accomplice in the audience, lecturer Tecwen Whittock, cough when Ingram read out a correct answer
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Celador employees produced and reviewed various compilation tapes before and after contacting the police. Celador and their editing company, Editworks, retained all the tapes during the case and reproduced all tapes for the court.
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The prosecution alleged that, of the 192 coughs recorded during his second-night performance, 32 were recorded from the ten Fastest Finger First contestants, and that 19 of the 32 coughs heard on the video tape were "significant". The prosecution asserted that these "significant" coughs were by Whittock, each falling any time the correct answer had been spoken.
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