ITV bosses have axed a further contestant from £1 million gameshow Red or Black? after finding "inconsistencies" during a background check. The contestant was pulled from Wednesday's edition of the show, hours after two other players were ditched from other forthcoming programmes as show chiefs tightened their checks. It comes in the wake of the uproar surrounding the award of the top prize to a man who was reportedly jailed for beating up a woman. Programme chiefs announced on Tuesday that they were tightening checks on criminal convictions and reviewing those who had made it through to the final stages of the show. So far three contestants - each from different editions - have been axed to avoid any further problems. The editions will continue to go ahead but three of the four programmes will see the number of contestants reduced from eight to seven. Nathan Hageman, 31, won the first £1 million prize on Simon Cowell's new entertainment show, but concern grew after it emerged he had a violent past. The bricklayer was initially reported to have been jailed for attacking a man but it has since been disclosed he attacked a woman, thought to be his ex-girlfriend. An ITV spokesman said: "ITV has reviewed the background checks on remaining contestants from Red or Black? "As a result of this we have asked producers to remove three contestants from this week's shows. Red or Black? will continue on these occasions with seven, rather than eight, contestants." He added that ITV Studios, Simon's production company Syco and the ITV Network were "working closely and collaboratively together to ensure that the show continues its success".
