C4 to refund misled Richard & Judy viewers

Channel 4 says it will refund any callers to Richard & Judy's You Say, We Pay quiz if an investigation into it reveals participants have been encouraged to take part even though they had no chance of winning.

Channel 4 says it will refund any callers to Richard & Judy's You Say, We Pay quiz if an investigation into it reveals participants have been encouraged to take part even though they had no chance of winning.

The broadcaster also said it has suspended the quiz show indefinitely while the investigation takes place.

C4 is investigating the quiz after the Mail on Sundayrevealed it had seen leaked emails suggesting Cactus TV, the producer of Richard & Judy, encouraged people to enter the quiz despite having already received a list of 24 potential winners from Eckoh, the company that operates the phone line.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: 'We are still investigating the claims made about the competition and don't yet know the extent of any problem.

'But we are absolutely clear that if it's found that viewers have been encouraged to enter the competition after the cut-off point has passed for selecting a potential winner then the channel will offer a full refund to anyone affected.

It said it regretted the fact some viewers would feel 'misled' by the competition and said news of the quiz's suspension would be announced to viewers today (Monday 19 February) by hosts Richard & Judy.

Judy Finnigan will tell viewers: 'Richard and I knew nothing about this until late on Friday afternoon - we were very shocked and angry on your behalf.'