Who is Charles Ingram? The life of the Midlands-born Army major who cheated on Who Wants to be a Millionaire

Who exactly is Charles Ingram and what happened on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Could the so called ‘Coughing Major’ actually be innocent?

While the drama about the infamous cheating scandal has finished, this is everything you need to know about Charles Ingram - including what happened during and after the trial.

Who is Charles Ingram?

Charles Ingram was born on 6 August 1963 in Shardlow, Derbyshire, and was son to John Ingram, a retired RAF wing commander and Susan, a theatre set designer.

Charles spent most of his education years at a private boarding school, Oswestry School, where he became a member of the Combined Cadet Force and completed the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award.

He then went on to study at Kingston University, gaining a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering.

In 1986, Charles trained for the British Army at Sandhurst and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Engineers - he was promoted to captain in 1990, and then again to major in 1995.

In 1998, Charles was sent to Banja Luka in Bosnia for six months on United Nations peacekeeping duties. In August 2000, he graduated from Cranfield University with a master’s degree in corporate management.

Charles met his future wife Diana when she was training to be a teacher at Barry College in South Wales, and were married in November in 1989. The two have three children together.

Prior to Charles appearing on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Diana and her brother, Adrian Pollock, both starred on the show - they both left with winnings of £32,000.

What happened on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

In 2001, Who Wants to be a Millionaire was at the centre of a famous scandal when contestant Charles Ingram managed to cheat his way to the maximum prize of £1 million.

He became one of the first and only people to win the jackpot. The first UK winner was Judith Keppel, a contestant who scooped up the £1 million prize in 2000.

To secure his place on the show, Charles practiced with a “fastest finger” machine that he and Diana built themselves.

Charles appeared over two episodes of the quiz show. His first episode ended when it ran out of time so he reappeared in the next one to finish his run.

By the time recording finished on his first day, it didn’t seem likely that he would get very far. He had already used up two of his three lifelines by the time he reached the £4,000 question.

As a general rule of thumb, the production team doesn't expect anyone who has used more than one lifeline before reaching a five-figure cash sum to go far.

However, everything changed when Charles returned to the studio to finish recording his episode.

Working with his wife Diana and accomplice Tecwen Whittock in the audience, Charles would muse aloud the possible answers to questions posed by host Chris Tarrant.

When he would mention the correct answer, a cough would sound from the audience.

In one memorable moment, Charles was asked who recorded the 2000 album ‘Born To Do It’.

Charles was certain the answer was A1, stating that he’d never even heard of Craig David.

Just as he was about to lock in A1 for his answer, he suddenly and seemingly without cause, changed his mind and went with Craig David.

How did they get caught?

During the final rounds of Charles’ questions, the production team began to notice the recurring coughing sounds.

Philip Davies, the studio floor manager, said in court: “There is always coughing during recording, but it’s generally irregular, not systematic.”

When the taping of Charles’ episode finished, the production team immediately began to review the footage of the episode.

The episode was subsequently pulled from being broadcast, with Celador Productions (the production company behind Who Wants to be a Millionaire) informing Charles of this, and also that his £1 million prize was being withdrawn.

With the episode no longer being put to air, the public wouldn’t see the big win until 2003, in the documentary Tonight With Trevor McDonald - Major Fraud.