‘You don’t even have to cough!’ Jeremy Clarkson makes savage dig at Millionaire cheat Charles Ingram as he hosts virtual pub quiz
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host Jeremy Clarkson made a savage dig at ‘coughing Major’ Charles Ingram on Friday.
The presenter, 60, took to Twitter to reveal he would be hosting an online pub quiz for his followers during the coronavirus lockdown, and joked that they didn’t even have to cough to cheat.
Ingram was thrown back into the spotlight this week following the premiere of the ITV drama Quiz, based on his conviction of deception relating to his appearance on Millionaire.
Brutal: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host Jeremy Clarkson, 60, made a hilarious dig at ‘coughing Major’ Charles Ingram on Friday
In the brief video, Jeremy asked his fans to tune to his virtual pub quiz, saying: ‘Greetings. At 7 o’clock this evening on the DriveTribe YouTube channel, I’m going to be hosting a pub quiz.
‘It’s rubbish and there’s no prize money but it’s very easy to cheat. You don’t even have to cough.
‘So, see you then. What else are you going to be doing? Watching Channel 4 News?’
Brutal: Major Charles Ingram was convicted of deception following his appearance on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2001 (pictured)
Funny: Jeremy referenced Ingram as he teased his online pub quiz, saying: ‘It’s rubbish and there’s no prize money but it’s very easy to cheat. You don’t even have to cough’
Jeremy took over as host of Millionaire in 2018 when the show was brought back to celebrate its 20th Anniversary.
His hilarious dig came after ITV aired it’s long-awaited series Quiz, based on the scandal which saw Major Ingram and his wife Diana cheat their way to the top prize on Millionaire.
Ingram was a contestant on the show, and used the coughs of Whittock to find the correct answer.
Comedic: The former Top Gear host took over as the presenter of Millionaire in 2018, after the show was brought back to screens
Opinionated: It comes after Millionaire’s original host Chris Tarrant insisted he still thinks the Ingrams after guilty, after the story was depicted in the acclaimed drama Quiz
But their plot was eventually exposed and in 2003 the Ingrams and Whittock were found guilty of one count of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception and given suspended prison sentences.
To this day Ingram still denies that he ever cheated on the show, thought host Chris Tarrant has insisted he thinks they are guilty.
The TV host branded Charles a ‘rotter, a cad and a bandit’ following suggestions that he believed the couple to be innocent due to his portrayal on screen, which has also led to online speculation.
Tense: Charles and Diana were found guilty of deception in the third and final episode of Quiz, but the series ending on an ambiguous note, hinting they could have been innocent
Speaking on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, he said: ‘It’s was very well made wasn’t it? It was actually very well done but it is a drama, it’s not factual.
‘So most of those conversations were made up because that’s what playwrights do. I mean the bottom line is he’s a rotter and a cad and a bandit and he was guilty. No question in my mind at all that he was guilty!’
Explaining the reason behind his opinion that they were guilty of the crime, Chris said: ‘I’ve always said, I saw nothing. But the studio that night was like a madhouse.
‘People were screaming and gasping just because he was so, you know he’s a serving British Army Major who’s on, I don’t know £30k a year…
‘Rented accommodation or whatever, and he’s going ”Oh yes £500,000, let’s risk it, let’s play” and all this and you think ”why would you do that?”
We didn’t do it! Charles and Diana (pictured arriving in court) had continued to deny they cheated on the show