The chair disgraced army officer Charles Ingram sat in while cheating his way to £1million on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire is set to go on sale.
The ‘Coughing Major’ won the top price on the ITV show in 2001 after answering 15 questions correctly.
But it quickly emerged that he had been helped by fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock, who coughed or blew his nose to alert him to the right answers.
Ingram’s wife Diana was also involved in the deception and all three parties were handed suspended prison sentences following a four week trial at Southwark Crown Court, south London, in 2003.
The 4ft high leather upholstered chair with a foot rest and five pronged base has emerged for sale for £600 at auctioneers Dore and Rees, of Frome, Somerset.
The chair disgraced army officer Charles Ingram sat in while cheating his way to £1million on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire has emerged for sale
The ‘Coughing Major’ won the top price on the ITV show in 2001 after answering 15 questions correctly. But it quickly emerged that he had been helped by fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock, who coughed or blew his nose to alert him to the right answers
Ingram’s wife Diana (pictured together) was also involved in the deception and all three parties were handed suspended prison sentences following a four week trial at Southwark Crown Court, south London, in 2003
The show’s first millionaire, former garden designer Judith Keppel, sat in it in November 2000, as did former physics teacher David Edwards, the second person to achieve the feat, in April 2001.
The chair originates from the collection of the late British media impresario Lord Lew Grade.
He acquired it when it was sold at auction in 2001 shortly after Ingram’s episode was filmed.
Also going under the hammer is Grade’s customised Dunhill walnut cigar humidor, a prized possession as he was rarely seen without a cigar in his mouth.
A box of his Montecristo cigars and his 19th century Louix XV style French bureau desk will be offered as well.
Grade died in 1998 but his collection has been added to in the decades since.
Sixty items from the collection are being sold, with an overall estimate of £20,000.
Auctioneer Marc Allum said: ‘The chair has no intrinsic value as a piece of furniture and looks like something you find in a breakfast bar.
‘Its significance comes from being on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
‘It was used in the early series of the show and was sat in by the first two contestants to win £1million, as well as Charles Ingram.
‘That is one of the most infamous events in TV history, a real shocker that someone could cheat in that way.
‘We will have to be on our guard for unusual coughing during the auction!
‘We have put a modest estimate on the chair so hopefully it could sell for more.
The chair originates from the collection of the late British media impresario Lord Lew Grade
Charles Ingram pictured while appearing on Who Wants to be a Millionaire 15 Question as he grabs £1,000,000
A box of Grade’s Montecristo cigars have also gone up for sale at the auction
His 19th century Louix XV style French bureau desk will be offered as well as part of the auction
Also going under the hammer is Grade’s customised Dunhill walnut cigar humidor, a prized possession as he was rarely seen without a cigar in his mouth
‘There are some fantastic items from the Lord Lew Grade collection, including his cigar humidor.
‘He was always seen with a cigar in his mouth.’
Who Wants to be a Millionaire was first broadcast on ITV in 1998 with Chris Tarrant as host.
The show’s first incarnation spawned 592 episodes and 30 series from 1998 to 2014, and it was brought back with Jeremy Clarkson as question master in 2018.
To date, only six people have legitimately won the top prize, most recently history and politics teacher Donald Fear in November 2020.
The sale takes place on July 19.
