How I ripped off TV quiz viewers
Glen Owen Ian Gallagher, Mail on Sunday25 March 2007
Zoe French was under few illusions when she signed up as a presenter of Bikini Beach. Given the onerous task of standing in her swimwear and urging viewers to phone in, she didn't expect the satellite quiz show to be a stepping stone to Newsnight. But she was still stunned when, after just a few days on air, the producer announced that he was about to pose as a viewer called 'Dave' and that he would 'win' a 100 prize for solving an anagram.
It was the part-time model's initiation into the brazenly profiteering world of phone-in quizzes, where producers manipulated the hopes of susceptible viewers to make millions. The scam, which was designed to convince viewers that they too could win, was just one of a number of sharp practices Zoe says she witnessed during two years as a quiz-show host. Her story is the first behind-thescenes account of life on the programmes that have mushroomed on digital and satellite television.
It comes amid a growing public outcry over the premium-rate TV phone scandal which broke after The Mail on Sunday revealed viewers were being ripped off by the Richard And Judy show. It also sheds light on a bizarre world where aspiring presenters accept wages of 20 an hour to appear in front of tiny audiences in the hope of being spotted by the major broadcasters.
