Quiz actress thinks it’s ‘impossible’ to say if Ingrams are guilty of cheating on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
QUIZ actress Sian Clifford thinks it’s ‘impossible’ to say if the Ingrams are guilty of cheating on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
The 38-year-old actress plays Diana Ingram in the new ITV drama, which begins tonight.
The series follows Charles Ingram and his wife before, during and after his infamous £1 million win on ITV quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2001, which was dogged by claims someone had coughed at the right answers to help him succeed.
While Charles was eventually convicted on a single count of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception after a lengthy trial.
However Sian insists she didn’t make a judgement about whether the couple were involved in the coughing scandal or not when she took on the role.
Speaking at a screening of the series, she said: “You know it was a question that we tossed around every single day but I don’t know whether it’s important to answer that question because we don’t answer that question on the show.
“I think we do present something that’s very balanced. I think it’s more important to answer the question of whether or not they should have the criminal conviction.
“That’s something else I’m interested in the show examining. So I don’t sit on either side because I think it is impossible to answer.”
Sian met with the Ingram’s while on set and praised the couple for being “so generous with their time.”
She added: “They were so sweet and it was really important to me to not engage at all with what was written about them at the time.
“You know she was painted as this sort of Lady Macbeth character and that’s a character I’d love to play and I don’t think that’s who she is.
“She struck me as an introvert, and a nerd and someone who’s actually quite shy and very sweet, definitely naïve.
“And I really wanted to get to that and protect them and be sensitive towards them but also protect the integrity of [writer] James’ [Graham] remarkable script which I think is completely balanced.”
Quiz begins tonight at 9pm on ITV and continues over consecutive nights.