- 7 months ago
Sometimes what you see on game shows isn't what it seems. Join us as we look back at the most shocking and dark revelations about individuals who appeared on TV game shows! From notorious serial killers to convicted murderers, these contestants had sinister secrets that would only be revealed years later. Which of these disturbing stories shocked you most? Let us know in the comments!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, I like bananas, so I'll take one.
00:03Number one, that's your number one.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most shocking and dark revelations about individuals who appeared on game shows.
00:11That is me trying to go fast.
00:16Ingram's trickery for victory. Who wants to be a millionaire?
00:19Charles Ingram became only the third person to win this British game show's top prize, but it was all for naught.
00:23Chris Tarrant, the original host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, said no one on the production team thought Ingram would turn things around
00:29after a rocky start.
00:31I don't know what your strategy and sub-strategy is, but it's working. You've just got £16,000.
00:37But it wasn't just a nice comeback story.
00:39Suspicions of cheating rose rather quickly, mainly due to coughing heard from the audience.
00:43It turned out the coughs weren't random.
00:45They were answer clues provided by Ingram's wife and college lecturer, Tekwen Widok.
00:51Not only was the prize not awarded, but all three involved were found guilty in court,
00:54ordered to pay fines and given suspended prison sentences, ranging from 12 to 18 months.
01:07A fraudulent schemer wins big. Press your luck.
01:10Michael Larson's record-breaking win on Press Your Luck in 1984 was impressive.
01:14Too impressive.
01:15CBS executives grew suspicious of cheating and didn't want to give him the winnings.
01:18Larson had studied the game's show patterns closely, effectively beating the system.
01:27It was determined that there was no legal issue with what he did.
01:29Still, we discovered other damaging facts about this guy.
01:32He was a major schemer.
01:33For example, he once used a family member's name to register a business so he could fire himself
01:37and collect unemployment benefits.
01:39He had also been arrested for theft three times before his game show appearance.
01:42In the 90s, Larson became implicated in a fraudulent multi-level marketing scheme.
01:46He fled a law enforcement investigation and eventually died in hiding.
01:50Do you have anything in mind as to what you're going to get your daughter for her belated birthday present?
01:53Uh, no. It'll be a surprise.
01:56Do you think this might be a surprise to her as well?
01:58Fugitive contestant wins money using fake identity.
02:01Super Password.
02:02Watching Password at home, a viewer in Anchorage, Alaska recognized the scruffy-faced contestant
02:08as a fugitive in a credit card fraud case and called the authorities.
02:12During the 80s, Patrick Quinn won $56,000 on the game show's Super Password.
02:17But his name was not, in fact, Patrick Quinn.
02:19That was his former college professor's name.
02:21The contestant's real name was Kerry D. Ketchum.
02:23My name's Patrick Quinn.
02:25I'm a senior systems analyst for the government.
02:27And I myself spent the last eight years in Europe and the Far East traveling around and everything.
02:31And I'm just really pleased and happy to be here.
02:33I'm having a great time.
02:33A viewer recognized who the man on the TV screen really was and alerted the authorities.
02:37Ketchum was a convicted felon and fugitive, wanted for faking his wife's death to collect
02:42a $100,000 insurance payout.
02:44In fact, he faced multiple charges, including bank and mail fraud.
02:47When Ketchum arrived at the show's Hollywood offices to claim his winnings, authorities
02:50were waiting.
02:51He was sentenced to five years in prison.
02:53One of the biggest winners in the history of the television game show Password was suddenly
02:58busted today when he showed up at the Password offices in Hollywood to claim his prize,
03:02$58,000.
03:03Former Jeopardy champion goes from fame to infamy.
03:07Jeopardy.
03:08A math teacher named Winston Wynn became a two-time Jeopardy champion in 2014.
03:13Over 10 years later, his reputation took a major hit, casting a shadow over the fame he
03:17gained on television all those years ago.
03:19So what did he do?
03:20Pretending to be a teenage boy, Wynn used Snapchat to exchange explicit images and videos
03:25with minors.
03:26Some of these were students who attended the school he worked at.
03:28Wynn pleaded guilty to multiple sex crimes and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
03:32He also tells us that Wynn is due in court next week, where he expects his client will
03:37give a statement apologizing to his victims.
03:40In downtown Brooklyn, Rob Flax, News 12 Brooklyn.
03:43A then-wanted man appears as a game show contestant, Wheel of Fortune.
03:47In 1998, Matthew Fenwick won $4,400 on Wheel of Fortune.
03:51Watching that particular episode was a girl who recognized him for a horrible reason.
03:55Like, seriously, this is unsettling stuff.
03:57Prior to appearing on the show, Fenwick had been on the run after being accused of molestation
04:01of that girl and one other girl.
04:03Two days after his appearance on the show, he was found and arrested.
04:06And in the summer of 1998, he pleaded guilty.
04:08This totally reframed that TV appearance in such a dark, alarming way.
04:13The legacy of a game show athlete tarnished American Ninja Warrior.
04:16It's far from an easy feat to become an American Ninja Warrior champ.
04:20Drew Dreschel was able to do that.
04:21On top of that, he became a very well-known competitor on the show over a multi-year period
04:25during the 2010s.
04:26But it cost him time.
04:28The clock's still ticking.
04:29Yeah, he can still do it.
04:30He's still got a shot to catch sheep.
04:32Exhaustion setting in, but Dreschel won't quit.
04:36However, shortly after the 2020 season wrapped up filming, he was arrested for charges related
04:40to sexual misconduct.
04:41In 2023, Dreschel pleaded guilty for crimes involving illegal pornography and coercing a minor
04:47to travel to engage in sexual activity.
04:49The judge labeled him a dangerous predator and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
04:53Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
05:06Wife's Life in Jeopardy
05:07Jeopardy
05:08A few years after becoming known as a two-time Jeopardy champion, Paul Curry became known as
05:12the Jeopardy Killer.
05:13In 1994, his wife Linda died under mysterious circumstances.
05:17It turned out it was nicotine poisoning.
05:19But Linda wasn't a smoker.
05:20It took years for prosecutors to build an effective case against Paul Curry.
05:24Finally, in 2010, 16 years after Linda's death, Paul was arrested.
05:28I had dinner prepared and she didn't really want that and just wanted to take a bath and
05:34go to bed.
05:34She was very tired.
05:36In 2014, he was deemed guilty of first-degree murder.
05:38He had poisoned his wife all those years ago, apparently intending to collect hundreds of
05:42thousands of dollars in insurance money and other financial benefits.
05:46Jeopardy is a fun way to earn big bucks, but this?
05:48This is just twisted.
05:49She wouldn't wake up.
05:51I couldn't get her awake.
05:54Didn't know exactly what to do, but I...
05:57Doomsday contestant, Wheel of Fortune.
05:59Looking back now, this is horrifying stuff.
06:01Lori Vallow Daybell appeared on Wheel of Fortune in 2004, winning $17,500.
06:07She talked a bit about her family on that show.
06:09From Austin, Texas, a hairstylist in Austin, hey?
06:12That's right.
06:12The best.
06:13How's the hair in Austin?
06:14It's good.
06:15Good.
06:15Austin's a happening place.
06:16Probably thanks to you.
06:18Years later, Lori made headlines for shocking reasons.
06:21In 2023, she was found guilty for murdering her two children.
06:24Over the years of court proceedings, she was also found guilty of conspiring to kill multiple
06:28other people, including her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
06:31How long have you lived here?
06:32Like three weeks.
06:32Oh, geez.
06:33Yeah, okay.
06:34That's why the neighbors don't know us.
06:35Gotcha.
06:36Like, hi, neighbor, sorry.
06:38What was striking about the footage that we saw was that there's no remorse.
06:44There's no, oh my gosh, my husband's dead.
06:48She and her husband, Chad Daybell, led what some media outlets called a doomsday cult.
06:52Lori Vallow received multiple life sentences for these disturbing, heinous acts.
06:56You simply have no remorse for it, even sitting here today.
07:00Suspected serial killer serves pasta and meatballs.
07:03Celebrity MasterChef.
07:04In 2015, chef Stephen Port appeared on the British show Celebrity MasterChef, donning a
07:09blonde wig and serving up pasta with meatballs in East London.
07:12Just months after the episode aired, articles started coming out connecting sinister dots
07:16to this man.
07:17He had been accused of drugging and murdering four young men.
07:19Port became known as the Grinder Killer.
07:21He met men through gay websites, invited them over, and committed horrific acts.
07:25In 2016, he was convicted of four murders, plus multiple sexual assaults, and was sentenced
07:30to life imprisonment without parole.
07:32To think this individual was on a competitive cooking reality show amidst his crimes is truly
07:36unsettling.
07:41The pockmarked man.
07:43Tout le monde va prendre sa place.
07:45French police had been searching for a man known as the Grele, or the pockmarked man,
07:49for more than three decades by the time he appeared on a game show.
07:52This notorious individual, a former police officer named François Verov, was responsible
07:57for multiple shocking murders and sexual attacks in the Paris region between 1986 and
08:021994.
08:03For so long, it was an unsolved case and the perpetrator was out there.
08:06The year was 2019 when he appeared on that game show.
08:08But the dark truth tied to him wouldn't come out until 2021, ending a 35-year manhunt.
08:13Verov left a note confessing to his crimes before taking his own life.
08:17A Wipeout Contestant Tragedy.
08:19Wipeout.
08:19Obstacle courses are fun, but they can come with a host of safety concerns.
08:24Wipeout does its best to vet contestants and provide them with sufficient protective gear,
08:28but accidents can still happen.
08:29I think he may have crapped his pants.
08:31Oh boy.
08:32Contestant Michael Paredes found this out the hard way, suffering a heart attack after
08:36completing the show's obstacle course.
08:38He was promptly rushed to a local hospital, but it was too late to save him.
08:41TMZ reported on his death shortly after.
08:44In spite of the tragedy, the series went on as planned.
08:46But it's hard to shake the feeling that contestants are risking their lives for viewers' entertainment.
08:50Oh my god, that was crazy!
08:53Alleged Poor Conditions.
08:55Squid Game The Challenge.
08:56In 2021, Squid Game became Netflix's newest hit show, garnering both mass appeal and critical
09:01approval for its dark yet captivating premise.
09:04But when the streaming giant announced that they would be producing their own game show
09:07based on the series' success, many were skeptical.
09:10Squid Game was critiquing the dystopian competition at its center, not endorsing it.
09:19Unfortunately, it turned out that the naysayers were right to be uneasy.
09:23Although Netflix naturally denied any foul play, contestants complained of unbearably cold
09:27sets and long hours.
09:28Some even compared the filming to a war zone.
09:37These anonymous criticisms of the show's conditions completely recontextualized the show,
09:41which has more similarities to its inspiration than many fans are comfortable with.
09:49The 1950s quiz show scandals.
09:52Have you ever watched a game show and wondered if it may be rigged?
09:54In the 1950s, many viewers were stunned to learn that this was the reality for three
09:59major quiz shows.
10:0021, The Big Surprise, and Dotto.
10:03The scandal began with 21, which was revealed to have scripted the loss of a contestant named
10:07Herb Stemple.
10:08Then you win $20,000.
10:10Congratulations!
10:11He lost out on an unknown amount of potential winnings, and to add insult to injury,
10:15the final nail in his competitive coffin was an incorrect answer about one of his favorite
10:19films.
10:19Thank you for being a wonderful contestant.
10:21Herb Stemple, ladies and gentlemen.
10:22On The Big Surprise, a warm-up question that contestant Dale Logue did not know the answer
10:27to is deliberately repeated for the show, while Dotto was found to be providing answers
10:31to its participants.
10:33Possible?
10:33Possible is absolutely right.
10:35Ryan Jenkins is suspected of murder.
10:37Megan Wants a Millionaire?
10:38I Love Money.
10:39Following Rock of Love, contestant Megan Hauserman was offered another chance at love by VH1 in
10:45Megan Wants a Millionaire.
10:46Among the contestants was so-called smooth operator Ryan Jenkins, who also filmed for the third season
10:51of another dating show, I Love Money.
10:53I figure, hey, if there's any time for a Baywatch dive, it's now.
10:57During Megan Wants a Millionaire's initial broadcast, Jenkins' wife was found dead,
11:01causing the series to come to an abrupt halt.
11:03I Love Money 3 never made its air.
11:05In the days after his wife's murder, Jenkins evaded police, crossing the border into Canada,
11:10and eventually taking his own life before a trial could be held.
11:13The manhunt for a reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins ended yesterday when he was found
11:17dead in a Canadian motel.
11:18Had Megan Wants a Millionaire continued, viewers would have seen him placed third, proving that
11:23people are not always what they seem.
11:25You know, I've put a lot of blame on myself for it for a long time, because I knew him as
11:29a different person.
11:31Nasubi's Challenge.
11:32Susunu Denpa Shonen.
11:34Translating to Do Not Proceed, Crazy Youth, Susunu Denpa Shonen was a challenge-based
11:39game show in Japan, which became notorious for the cruelty of its competitions.
11:49In its first year on air, the series began its most controversial challenge to date, Denpa
11:54Shonen Teiki Kensho Seikatsu, in which the contestant, Nasubi, was forced to live solely
11:59on sweepstakes prizes.
12:00Nasubi, Nasubi, Nasubi.
12:03His condition was filmed and reported on for 15 agonizing months, all without his explicit
12:07consent, as he struggled to win basic necessities, particularly food.
12:11What was, at the time, perceived to be light entertainment was actually the broadcast
12:15torture of a human being.
12:17The Death of Michael Lush, The Late Late Breakfast Show.
12:25While The Late Late Breakfast Show wasn't technically a game show, its Give It a World
12:28Segment featured many hallmarks of the reality subgenre.
12:32Viewers of the variety show would call in as a whirly wheel was spun to decide what stunt
12:36they would perform on the following week's program.
12:38This included everything from car stunts to being fired out of a cannon.
12:42It was an incredibly dangerous segment, which had already resulted in a few injuries prior
12:46to the involvement of its final contestant, Michael Lush.
12:48It certainly looked remarkably frightening from the pictures I can see.
12:51Lush was set to perform a bungee jumping stunt that also involved a straitjacket and
12:55an explosion.
12:56No professional stuntman had attempted the feat prior to Lush's first day of training,
13:00and a fatal mishap cost him his life.
13:02Because of the tragic accident involving Michael Lush while preparing for tonight's edition
13:06of The Late Late Breakfast Show, the BBC has decided to cancel this and all further additions.
13:12The Bleefnik Family, Family Feud.
13:14When you tune into an episode of Family Feud, you know you can expect some well-intentioned
13:18barbs, a few double entendres, and plenty of wide-eyed reactions from Steve Harvey.
13:22So while this response from Tim of The Bleefnik Family may not seem so out of the ordinary,
13:27the truth behind the scenes makes this moment extremely sinister.
13:30What's the biggest mistake you made at your wedding?
13:33Honey, I love you, but said I do.
13:37Bleefnik was later convicted of the murder of his wife, Becky, who did not appear in the episode.
13:41Allegedly, his wife had requested a restraining order from him a year prior to her death,
13:45which was rejected by the legal system for unknown reasons.
13:48And you shot her.
13:501, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 times.
13:57Tim Bleefnik was sentenced to life in prison,
13:59though he insists that he did not commit the crime.
14:01Because of that joke, so many people paid attention to his case in this trial.
14:06Edward Edwards conceals the truth to tell the truth.
14:09Edward Edwards had already been dubbed one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives when he
14:13appeared on To Tell the Truth.
14:15In fact, this history is the entire reason he was cast on the show.
14:18I, Ed Edwards, was once on the FBI's list of the 10 most wanted criminals in America.
14:24Now, I am a respected citizen in my community.
14:27His unique life experience made him the perfect candidate for the series,
14:30which saw contestants attempting to guess which of the three people was that episode's central character.
14:35Although Edward's claimed to have been reformed and even wrote a book on his life as a criminal,
14:39his reformation was all a charade.
14:40Will the real Ed Edwards please stand up?
14:44Did it?
14:45Ah!
14:46Between 1977 and 1996, Edward's lived as a serial killer, murdering at least five people.
14:53Looking back, it's hard to believe people let him achieve the level of fame that he did.
14:56The more trouble you get into, the bigger you are in their eyes.
15:00Bullseye helps catch a criminal.
15:01Bullseye.
15:02John Cooper's crime spree began when he was just 17.
15:05Back then, he was seen publicly intoxicated and was charged with stealing cars and assaulting police officers.
15:10He would graduate to murder in 1985 when he killed a man and woman while robbing their farmhouse in Scoveston Park.
15:16Four years later, he would participate in the game show Bullseye, a British series involving darts and trivia.
15:21No one could know that this charming Welshman was a double murderer.
15:26As his violent crime spree continued, investigators realized that a police sketch looked eerily similar to Cooper's appearance on the show
15:32and used the likeness as evidence to build the case.
15:35Following Cooper's conviction in 2011, ITV would officially vault the episode he appeared on,
15:40ensuring that viewers of the lighthearted game show weren't reminded of his grisly crimes.
15:44You've got 220 pounds. What are you going to do?
15:47You'd like to gamble.
15:48Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
15:53You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
15:57If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
16:04The Dating Game Killer. The Dating Game.
16:06Now known as the Dating Game Killer, Rodney Alcala is notable for actually winning the episode of The Dating Game he appeared on.
16:12Luckily, the female contestant who chose him ultimately decided not to go on a date with him because she found him creepy.
16:18Can you be a little more descriptive?
16:20Peel me.
16:21We're sure she's now thankful for following her gut instinct, as Alcala would later be directly linked to eight murders,
16:28with many more considered open cases in which he was a prime suspect.
16:31The detective frantically tried to call the police department and let other detectives know that he was on television.
16:36Watching the show back today is unsettling,
16:38particularly when you consider no background check was performed on any of the show's potential bachelors.
16:43Thinking back on it, it was very spooky.
16:47Which of these stories about game show contestants do you find most puzzling?
16:51Let us know in the comments.
Comments