<P> Plaskett may also be heard at Episode 29 of The Pod Delusion podcast being interviewed by political blogger, Mark Thompson, who was himself led by Plaskett's essay to take an interest in the case of The Millionaire Three . In January 2006, Plaskett himself made it into the hot seat and won £ 250,000 . He subsequently sponsored Ingram for £ 25,000 to run the 2006 Flora London Marathon for the charity SENSE . </P> <P> The participation of Robert Brydges raised the ire of Brydges's neighbour, Sarah Elliott, who said "Bob is loaded . When I found out he was going on the show I knew he would win . He's as sharp as a razor and has no problem under pressure . But gambling on the tricky questions must be a lot easier when you're already worth millions . I suppose £ 16,000 must seem like loose change to him ." Elliott's grandmother was less kind, saying "It is so unfair that someone like Robert should be allowed on the show . That family certainly does not need the money . It won't make any difference to them because they're filthy rich and live like millionaires anyway". In addition, the show has been called elitist: presenter Eamonn Holmes suggested live on GMTV that only millionaires or minor royals had a chance of winning the prize . A spokesman for Celador responded "Everybody has an equal chance to get on . It is impossible for us to check how much money people already have when they get on the show . We'd love a penniless binman as our next winner, but it never happens ." </P> <P> The Phone - a-Friend lifeline provided multiple instances of controversy during the show's run . A 2002 edition of the Daily Mail reported that many contestants had selected strangers who were "contacts among the quizzing fraternity" to act as their Phone - a-Friends . Specifically, game show champion Daphne Fowler was approached by a man she had not previously met and asked if she would be his lifeline in exchange for £ 200 . Fowler refused, adding: "I thought a fair price would be a quarter of whatever the man won, so if I helped him get from £ 32,000 to £ 64,000 I would expect to get £ 16,000 ." The man was later revealed by ITV sources not to have made it onto the programme . </P> <P> In March 2007 various UK newspapers reported that an organised syndicate had been getting quiz enthusiasts onto the show in return for a percentage of their winnings . The person behind the syndicate was Keith Burgess from Northern Ireland . Burgess admitted to helping around 200 contestants to appear on the show since 1999; he estimates those contestants to have won around £ 5,000,000 . The show producers are believed to have been aware of this operation, with Burgess stating: "The show knows about me and these types of syndicates, but they cover it up to keep the show going ." An earlier version of a Phone a Friend syndicate was reported in the Northampton Chronicle and Echo during 2003 . Paul Smith, the Managing Director of Celador Productions, stated: "We are aware of Paddy Spooner and what people similar to him are doing, and we have made a priority of changing our question procedure . We are confident we have now made it impossible for anyone to manipulate the system ." Since then, the options of people that can be called have a picture of themselves shown on - air . </P>

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