The 1 Percent Club bosses complete investigation into 'cheating' claims
'The 1 Percent Club' bosses have investigated claims a contestant was caught cheating on air.
The hugely popular ITV quiz show - which is hosted by comedian Lee Mack - starts with a field of 100 players and whittles them down until one person can try and win the £100,000 cash prize, but it sparked controversy recently after contestant Jason Duckett was seen rubbing his ears.
Presenter Lee had asked a question with the answer "ear" and "hear", which was when DJ Jason - who appeared on the show with his lawyer wife Rowena - was seen rubbing both earlobes.
Both of the couple had been eliminated when he made the gesture, but viewers still thought something was afoot.
A spokesperson for the show told The Sun newspaper: "Any game show worth its salt attracts conspiracy theories.
"But happily, initial inquiries quickly established that there were no grounds for suspicion.”
Jason, 36, pointing out that both him and his wife were "out", and he had "nothing to gain" by trying to cheat.
He told the outlet: “I almost admire the creativity of someone to come up with that because I hadn’t thought of that.
"There was nothing to gain for either of us. We were both out. Anything I was doing it was to just sort of calm myself.
“If you spin it, you could say my arms are folded. Was the answer harm and arm?”
Last month, Lee revealed he was planning to work on more of the show, while he recently confirmed his iconic sitcom 'Not Going Out' will return in 2025 for a 14th season, 18 years after it was first broadcast.
The show is the longest running UK sitcom currently on air and the 2023 Christmas special marked its 100th episode.
Lee said in a statement: "Once again I’m very grateful that the BBC have trusted in us to keep alive the studio sitcom.
"I grew up watching this genre of sitcom on the BBC, and to be part of it myself is still a dream come true, even after 18 years of doing it. Here we go again…!!"
