These folks did not deserve to come on down. For this list, we’ll be looking at contestants on game shows who gamed the system to win big - or just outright cheated.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 game show cheaters
00:12of all time. For this list, we'll be looking at contestants on game shows who gamed the system
00:25to win big, or just outright cheated. Did you happen to see any of these live? Let us know
00:30in the comments below.
00:3310. Ted Slauson For many, The Price is Right brings back memories
00:39of staying home from school and perusing the cozy channels of daytime TV. For Ted Slauson,
00:45The Price is Right was a way of life. Slauson loved the show and memorized the exact prices
00:50of its prizes, which were often featured more than once.
01:09When he started showing up in the studio for tapings, Slauson would yell out the correct
01:13prices to contestants, thereby helping them win. This famously came to a head in 2008 when contestant
01:19Terry Neese correctly guessed the exact amount of the final double showcase.
01:24Extra retail price, $23,743. You got it right on the nose.
01:30The event was quite famous, and it forced the producers to acknowledge their complacency and
01:35diversify the pricing system. Slauson's story was later told in the documentary Perfect Bid,
01:41the contestant who knew too much.
01:43And Susan, you know how to play this game, don't you?
01:45Sort of.
01:46Sort of?
01:47I was trying to tell her $2,100. You can actually see me at one point, kind of finishing off
01:52the $2,100 and then doing it again.
01:54Number 9, the flip-flop cheater. In the Price is Rights game of flip-flop, contestants must
02:00alter the first two numbers, the last two numbers, or all four numbers to correctly guess the price.
02:06Or you can flop the last two numbers to make it $8,610 at six nights. Or flip and flop to
02:14make it $6,810.
02:15A man named Bretton is told how to play the game, and he even gestures to the crowd to
02:20help him out. But rather than flipping or flopping, Bretton presses the button that reveals the
02:25correct answer.
02:26No!
02:31No!
02:34To be honest, we don't know if this is cheating or just an honest mistake. Either way, it resulted
02:39in one heck of a payout. In an incredible act of charity, Barker gives Bretton the prize
02:45in the end.
02:54Still, Bob Barker panic yelling no and walking off stage has to be one of the funniest moments
03:00on the show.
03:01Number 8, Khalid El-Khattataini.
03:05We don't know if Khalid El-Khattataini plays poker, but if he doesn't, then he totally should.
03:11This 19-year-old man appeared on the game show Millionaire Hot Seat, which is essentially
03:15the Australian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
03:20El-Khattataini made for a very entertaining guest, often playing dumb and constantly plugging
03:25his own Instagram accounts. Regardless, he walked away with the top prize of $100,000.
03:31Yeah, well, I have no idea. And if you want to know my thought process, it was like, I haven't
03:39done Dean in a while, so I'll choose it.
03:42And how did he do it? By apparently reading the body language of host and question asker
03:47Eddie McGuire. He observed McGuire's subtle tell whenever the correct answer was read aloud
03:52and went with it. As he later told the media, I didn't play the game, I played the man.
04:05Number 7, Rick Rockwell.
04:08This is a different kind of cheater. On February 15, 2000, Fox aired a two-hour special called
04:15Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire? The show saw 50 women competing to marry a mysterious
04:21multimillionaire. 50 women will compete to marry a mystery multimillionaire she won't
04:25meet until she says I do.
04:27Over 20 million people tuned in to watch winner Darva Conger marry who was eventually revealed
04:33to be Rick Rockwell. But as it turned out, Rockwell had, shall we say, embellished his
04:39image for the show. Darva meets and marries Rick Rockwell on a two-hour TV show.
04:44Darva, are you ready for a honeymoon tonight? Absolutely, ready to go.
04:48He lied about his work as a motivational speaker and had previously been the target of a restraining
04:53order filed by his previous partner. He also lived in a modest house and many questioned
04:58his status as a multimillionaire. Winner Darva Conger claimed that she was duped by Rockwell
05:04and quickly had their marriage annulled. For the first time in my life I was having
05:07to defend myself. I'm being called a gold digger and a this and a that and being ripped
05:11apart in the media and I'm like, well, but I'm not a celebrity.
05:15Number 6. Lauren and Frank Cleary The Moment of Truth was a short-lived game show
05:21that aired on Fox between 2008 and 2009. If they tell the truth, they can win up to a half
05:27million dollars. The procedure was as follows. Contestants are given a polygraph test prior
05:33to the game and then they are re-asked the same personal questions in the studio in front
05:38of friends and family. If they can openly admit embarrassing truths about themselves,
05:43they are awarded money. One episode aired in which Lauren Cleary seemingly ended her marriage
05:48on national TV. In a later interview, however, the couple claimed that they had spoken about
05:58the answers before the show started and that they were only concerned about the money. Turns
06:03out these weren't dramatic secrets that Cleary was revealing for the first time. They were
06:07well-known, despite her husband's theatrical acting.
06:10This is a… What else is there? You know what I mean? Let's go for it.
06:19This is a little bigger than the game right now.
06:21Number 5. Michael Larson This man from Ohio made game show history
06:26in 1984 by winning over $110,000 in the CBS program, Press Your Luck.
06:31Today, these three players are after high stakes, but they'll have to avoid the whammy as they
06:37play the most exciting game of their lives. From Television City and Hollywood, it's time
06:43to press your luck.
06:46Larson was a big fan of the show, and like The Price is Right's Ted Slauson, he meticulously
06:51studied the gameplay. Larson had taped episodes and used the recordings to memorize the pattern
06:56of the game board. He then flew to Los Angeles and appeared on the show. Larson's intimate
07:08knowledge of the game board allowed him to go on a tear, and he ended up with historic winnings.
07:13CBS accused Larson of cheating and initially denied him the prize money. But because memorizing the
07:18board wasn't technically against the rules, the $110,000 was grudgingly handed over.
07:24Number 4. Herb Stemple
07:36Here's a scandal that's actually in-house. Between 56 and 58, NBC aired a game show called
07:4321, which saw two contestants duking it out in general knowledge trivia.
07:48One of the most famous promoters in boxing history, the man who promoted the first million-dollar
07:53gate is largely responsible for price fights being staged out of doors. Name this man.
07:59Text record. Right, you now have 16 points.
08:03Following a disastrous first episode, producer Dan Enright decided to rig the show and hired
08:09contestant Herb Stemple to act as an underdog champion. Stemple was provided with both the
08:14questions and answers beforehand and racked up quote-unquote winnings of nearly $70,000.
08:19He was eventually quote-unquote defeated by a man named Charles Van Doren. It's been reported that
08:33these weren't the only two contestants to be cast in a similar fashion to actors,
08:38and 21 became highly choreographed after its first broadcast.
08:423. Adriana Abenia Should cheating be taken as seriously if it's a celebrity contestant?
08:50That's the question at hand when it comes to Armani and Prada model Adriana Abenia.
08:55Spain has a popular game show called Pasa Palabra, which itself is a remake of the British panel show
09:02The Alphabet Game. While appearing as a celebrity guest, Abenia secretly held her iPhone under the
09:07table and attempted to use the music-identifying app Shazam to cheat her way through a segment.
09:12However, she received a text at an inopportune time, and this was noticed by the host. He called
09:18her out, and Abenia playfully acknowledged that yes, that was her phone, and yes, she was indeed
09:24cheating. So there's that. 2. Charles Van Doren
09:29We return to the scandal of 21 with Charles Van Doren, the man who finally dethroned rigged
09:35champion Herb Stemple in front of 15 million viewers.
09:39Then you'll win $20,000! Congratulations! Van Doren's reign on 21 made him a national celebrity,
09:46and even appeared on the cover of Time. Well, as you probably won't be very shocked to learn,
09:51Van Doren was in on the whole scam too.
09:54Uh, Halleck. General H.W. Halleck.
09:56You're right, you're at 8 points.
09:58Following his dive, Herb Stemple became a whistleblower and exposed the fraudulent nature of
10:07not only 21, but many other game shows of the time. The case went all the way to Congress,
10:13and former rivals Stemple and Van Doren teamed up to expose the deception. Congress subsequently
10:18made a law expressly prohibiting producer intervention and predetermined game show winners.
10:23Be very, very careful before you answer, take your time, and the very, very best of luck to both of you.
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10:46Number 1. Charles Ingram
10:49British Army Major Charles Ingram appeared in the British Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
10:53in 2001 and became just the third person to win the top prize.
10:57You just want one million!
11:05One million!
11:07However, producers were suspicious of Ingram's performance, as he played erratically, didn't
11:12seem confident, and often doubled back on incorrect answers. As a result, they withheld his earnings,
11:18and launched an investigation.
11:20I have sat through so many hours with the police and the fraud squad of tapes of the major show.
11:26He is so guilty. It's like, once you lock into it, it's like, oh, for God's sake.
11:31After studying the tape, they concluded that Ingram had been cheating with the help of a man named
11:35Tequan Wittuck and his own wife, Diana. They were both in the audience and reportedly coughed when
11:40the correct answer was read. It's up to you. I can't help you, Charles. It's the lifeline. Go on. But…
11:44All three were convicted of deception and given suspended prison sentences.
11:50The Ingrams were also forced to pay £115,000 in fines and defense costs.
11:56Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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