GMTV has strongly denied claims that its Doorstep Challenge competition is fixed. Viewers pay up to £1.80 a time to enter the contest in the hope of winning £20,000. Presenter Keith Chegwin and a camera crew then turn up unannounced outside an entrant's home to announce they've won. But freelance TV producer Steve Benham told Broadcast magazine that contestants who live in blocks of flats or out-of-the-way areas are excluded from the draw because it would be too problematic for a camera crew to visit. "The fact is that there are thousands of people living in high-rise blocks or hard-to-reach areas who are phoning in every week that will never stand a chance of winning," he said. But GMTV denied the accusation and said Mr Benham had never worked on the show. A spokeswoman said: "We have no evidence that the winners have been selected on the basis of where they live. "The winner is selected randomly, by GMTV, and we have always been able to get to the winning location. "Winners have lived in difficult locations but that's all part of the challenge." Previous winners have lived in flats and in remote areas, she added. Phone entries for Doorstep Challenge were collated by Opera Interactive Technology - the company involved in the alleged £40 million GMTV scam revealed earlier this week.
