Who's the real winner?

LONDON - A bitter war of words has broken out over accusations that the first jackpot win on Britain's worldwide hit quiz show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, has been fixed to win a ratings war.

Viewers tuning into the episode screened in Britain last night saw Judith Keppel, a 58-year-old distant relative of Camilla Parker Bowles, become the first winner of the £1 million ($3.63 million) jackpot.

After 122 episodes of the show, Keppel became the first contestant to successfully negotiate the 15 questions needed to scoop the jackpot.

The million-pound poser was: "Which King [of England] was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine?" Keppel knew the answer of Henry II almost immediately.

But the milestone has been overshadowed by accusations that the questions had been "dumbed down" so ITV, which screens the show, could win an important ratings battle.

The programme was screened at the same time as the last episode of the popular BBC comedy, One Foot In The Grave. Both shows are screened on TV One in New Zealand.

A BBC insider said that the last big winner had also occurred when an important ratings battle was taking place.

"It is a bit of a coincidence," said the insider. "Call me suspicious, but it seems to me you can drastically improve your chances of becoming a millionaire if you check your BBC1 schedule before going on the programme.

"I wonder if there has been some deliberate 'dumbing down' of the questions on certain nights?"

ITV reacted furiously to the accusations, accusing its rival of "unpleasant and unfounded attacks."

- NZPA