Major held over cheating claims on TV game show

An army major being investigated over allegations of cheating after his £1m win on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? television show was arrested with his wife on Thursday.

In September, Major Charles Ingram of the Royal Engineers became the third family member to win a big prize. His wife, Diana, 37, and her brother, Adrian Pollock, each won £32,000 on the ITV programme earlier this year.

The programme maker, Celador, called in the police over suspicions that Major Ingram won the £1m jackpot using secret coughing signals from an audience member. Major Ingram, 38, denies any wrongdoing and has threatened to sue for the money.

He and his wife were arrested yesterday morning at their home in Wiltshire, which was searched. They were questioned by police before being released on bail last night to return to a central London police station next month. A man aged 51 was also arrested in Cardiff. Tecwen Whittock, a college lecturer, who was the contestant after Major Ingram in the quiz show but won only £1,000, was questioned by the Metropolitan Police about the alleged fraud. He was bailed to return to a police station in central London in February.

Celador Productions, which makes the programme, refused to comment after the arrest. The company withheld Major Ingram's prize when the investigation began. The major said at the time he was "stunned, bewildered and devastated" by the allegations. In a statement issued through his solicitors, he challenged Celador to produce evidence against him.

Meanwhile, the creator of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Paul Smith, yesterday revealed that security on the programme had been stepped up after the investigation into alleged cheating. Members of the audience are now frisked on entering the studio and security cameras are trained on the audience the whole time.

Speaking at a lunch with the Broadcasting Press Guild, Mr Smith also launched a blistering attack on the rival quiz show host Anne Robinson, accusing her of being insincere and exploitative.

Mr Smith said The Weakest Link had taken its best ideas from Millionaire – the continuous, dramatic background music and the lights going up and down the set. "I think, 'For God's sake guys, give us a break'," he said.

Mr Smith added: "The problem with The Weakest Link is that the character of the host is not genuine. When Chris Tarrant is there, it's really Chris. When he puts his arms round someone, it's really Chris; he really cares. It's to do with integrity. Anne Robinson stands there and takes advantage of people who are not familiar with TV studios and feel pressurised because of that. It's an awful thing to do, to humiliate them. That lacks integrity. I'm surprised that the British public want to watch it."