On the 'Richard and Judy show' every day an average of 15,000 viewers called in and paid 1 a time to enter the programme's popular daily competition, 'You Say, We Pay'.

Emails leaked to the papers revealed thousands of viewers had been duped as the production team had already chosen potential winners. Systematically cheating viewers out of tens of thousands of pounds in a premium-rate phone quiz scam.

But that's not all! Big Brother was accused of ripping-off viewers after thousands called in to evict one of the housemates who was shortly then sent back into the house. Channel 4 decided to axe all phone in competitions with the exception of one featured on 'Deal or No Deal'.