Quiz fans tried to rig Millionaire

The rules of a stage version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? have been changed after claims that contestants were teaming up to cheat their way into the hotseat.

Organisers of the show, a spinoff from the TV series, were forced to act after a disastrous opening night.

Three friends, all seated in the same row, made it on to the stage one after the other.

Chants of 'fix, fix, fix,' came from the audience as the third contestant stepped up for a chance to win the top prize.

It was claimed that, while each person was only allowed one chance in the hotseat, no checks were carried out to make sure the person who won the fastest-finger-first round was the same as the one who went up.

'I'm not saying they were cheating. But this group had obviously been practising the fastest-finger-first round,' said one audience member.

'It was possible to work as a team to win fastest-finger-first and then send another member of the group, who hadn't yet been on stage, up to play.'

The tour began at the Eastbourne Congress Theatre, East Sussex, last week. Audience members pay £15 each to sit in seats equipped with a computer keypad.

The host - comedian Les Dennis, former GMTV presenter Eamonn Holmes and TV critic Paul Ross, are among those taking part - reads out the questions and a computer records who answers quickest.

That person is then invited to sit in the hotseat and plays the traditional game for one million points - not pounds. If they win they take home an X-type Jaguar.

Prizes for fewer points include holidays, plasma TVs, digital cameras and DVD players.

Under the original rules, contestants could take part in as many shows as they wanted, providing they went into the hotseat only once per show. But after the first night, organisers decided to change the rules.

They said they did not want groups of quiz fans following the two-hour show on its nationwide tour and working as a team to make it on stage each time.