00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 game show cheaters
00:12of all time.
00:21For this list we'll be looking at contestants on game shows who gamed the system to win
00:25big or just outright cheated.
00:28Did you happen to see any of these live?
00:30Let us know in the comments below.
00:33Number 10.
00:35Ted Slauson For many, The Price is Right brings back
00:38memories of staying home from school and perusing the cozy channels of daytime TV.
00:44For Ted Slauson, The Price is Right was a way of life.
00:48Slauson loved the show and memorized the exact prices of its prizes, which were often featured
00:53more 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.
01:17This famously came to a head in 2008 when contestant Terry Neese correctly guessed the
01:21exact amount of the final double showcase.
01:30The event was quite famous and it forced the producers to acknowledge their complacency
01:35and diversify the pricing system.
01:38Slauson's story was later told in the documentary, Perfect Bid, the contestant who knew too much.
01:47Number 9.
01:55The Flip-Flop Cheater In The Price is Right's game of flip-flop,
02:00contestants must alter the first two numbers, the last two numbers, or all four numbers
02:04to correctly guess the price.
02:16A man named Bretton is told how to play the game, and he even gestures to the crowd to
02:20help him out.
02:21But rather than flipping or flopping, Bretton presses the button that reveals the correct
02:25answer.
02:34To be honest, we don't know if this is cheating or just an honest mistake, either way it resulted
02:40in one heck of a payout.
02:41In an incredible act of charity, Barker gives Bretton the prize in the end.
02:55Still Bob Barker panic yelling no and walking off stage has to be one of the funniest moments
03:00on the show.
03:02Number 8.
03:03Khalid El-Katatayni We don't know if Khalid El-Katatayni plays
03:07poker 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-Katatayni made for a very entertaining guest, often playing dumb and constantly plugging
03:25his own Instagram accounts.
03:27Regardless, he walked away with the top prize of $100,000.
03:43And how did he do it?
03:44By apparently reading the body language of host and question asker, Eddie McGuire.
03:48He observed McGuire's subtle tell whenever the correct answer was read aloud and went
03:53with it.
04:00As he later told the media, I didn't play the game, I played the man.
04:05Number 7.
04:07Rick Rockwell This is a different kind of cheater.
04:11On February 15, 2000, Fox aired a two-hour special called Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire.
04:17The show saw 50 women competing to marry a mysterious millionaire.
04:27Over 20 million people tuned in to watch winner Darva Conger marry who was eventually revealed
04:33to be Rick Rockwell.
04:35But as it turned out, Rockwell had, shall we say, embellished his image for the show.
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.
04:56He also lived in a modest house and many questioned his status as a multi-millionaire.
05:01Winner Darva Conger claimed that she was duped by Rockwell and quickly had their marriage
05:05annulled.
05:06Number 6.
05:16Lauren and Frank Cleary The moment of truth was a short-lived game
05:21show that aired on Fox between 2008 and 2009.
05:28The procedure was as follows.
05:31Contestants are given a polygraph test prior to the game, and then they are re-asked the
05:35same personal questions in the studio in front of friends and family.
05:40If they can openly admit embarrassing truths about themselves, they are awarded money.
05:45One episode aired in which Lauren Cleary seemingly ended her marriage on national TV.
05:55In a later interview, however, the couple claimed that they had spoken about the answers
05:59before the show started and that they were only concerned about the money.
06:03Turns out these weren't dramatic secrets that Cleary was revealing for the first time.
06:07They were well-known, despite her husband's theatrical acting.
06:21Number 5.
06:22Michael Larson This man from Ohio made game show history
06:26in 1984 by winning over $110,000 in the CBS program, Press Your Luck.
06:46Larson was a big fan of the show, and like The Price is Right's Ted Slauson, he meticulously
06:51studied the gameplay.
06:53Larson had taped episodes and used the recordings to memorize the pattern of the game board.
06:57He then flew to Los Angeles and appeared on the show.
07:07Larson's intimate knowledge of the game board allowed him to go on a tear, and he
07:11ended up with historic winnings.
07:13CBS accused Larson of cheating and initially denied him the prize money.
07:18But because memorizing the board wasn't technically against the rules, the $110,000
07:22was grudgingly handed over.
07:34Number 4.
07:35Herb Stemple Here's a scandal that's actually in-house.
07:39Between 1956 and 1958, NBC aired a game show called 21, which saw two contestants duking
07:46it out in general knowledge trivia.
08:04Following a disastrous first episode, producer Dan Enright decided to rig the show and hired
08:09contestant Herb Stemple to act as an underdog champion.
08:13Stemple was provided with both the questions and answers beforehand and racked up quote
08:17unquote winnings of nearly $70,000.
08:28He was eventually quote unquote defeated by a man named Charles Van Doren.
08:33It's been reported that these weren't the only two contestants to be cast in a similar
08:37fashion to actors, and 21 became highly choreographed after its first broadcast.
08:43Number 3.
08:44Adriana Abenia Should cheating be taken as seriously if
08:48it's a celebrity contestant?
08:50That's the question at hand when it comes to Armani and Prada model Adriana Abenia.
08:56Spain has a popular game show called Pasapalabra, which itself is a remake of the British panel
09:02show The Alphabet Game.
09:04While appearing as a celebrity guest, Abenia secretly held her iPhone under the table and
09:08attempted to use the music-identifying app Shazam to cheat her way through a segment.
09:13However, she received a text at an inopportune time, and this was noticed by the host.
09:18He called her out, and Abenia playfully acknowledged that yes, that was her phone, and yes, she
09:24was indeed cheating.
09:25So there's that.
09:27Number 2.
09:28Charles Van Doren We return to the scandal of 21 with Charles
09:33Van Doren.
09:34The man who finally dethroned rigged champion Herb Stemple in front of 15 million viewers.
09:43Van Doren's reign on 21 made him a national celebrity, and even appeared on the cover
09:47of Time.
09:48Well, as you probably won't be very shocked to learn, Van Doren was in on the whole scam
09:54too.
10:03Following his dive, Herb Stemple became a whistleblower and exposed the fraudulent nature
10:07of not only 21, but many other game shows of the time.
10:11The case went all the way to Congress, and former rivals Stemple and Van Doren teamed
10:15up to expose the deception.
10:17Congress subsequently made a law expressly prohibiting producer intervention and predetermined
10:23game show winners.
10:31Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
10:35about our latest videos.
10:37You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:40If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:47Number 1.
10:48Charles Ingram British Army Major Charles Ingram appeared
10:51on the British Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in 2001 and became just the third person to
10:56win the top prize.
11:03However, producers were suspicious of Ingram's performance, as he played erratically, didn't
11:12seem confident, and often doubled back on incorrect answers.
11:16As a result, they withheld his earnings and launched an investigation.
11:31After studying the tape, they concluded that Ingram had been cheating with the help of
11:34a man named Tequan Wittuck and his own wife, Diana.
11:38They were both in the audience and reportedly coughed when the correct answer was read.
11:46All three were convicted of deception and given suspended prison sentences.
11:51The Ingrams were also forced to pay £115,000 in fines and defense costs.
Comments