to ask you should he be allowed to keep the 1 million pound

[AuntiePickleBottom]

ITV is under pressure after it emerged that the first £1 million winner of Simon Cowell's gameshow Red Or Black? was jailed for beating up a woman.

Bricklayer Nathan Hageman was previously reported to have been jailed for attacking his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend.

It has now been reported that the 31-year-old, from Reading, attacked a woman, thought to be his former partner

ITV is holding talks following the revelations, with pressure on the broadcaster to strip Mr Hageman of his win.

An ITV spokesman said: "In light of recent developments, ITV and Syco (Cowell's production company) are making inquiries to establish the facts."

A Reading Crown Court spokesman reportedly told The Sun and the Daily Mirror that the victim of the 2006 assault was a woman.

It is reported that ITV knew about Mr Hageman's five-year jail sentence, of which he served two-and-a-half years, but it is thought that they did not know that the victim was a woman.

Mr Hageman previously told journalists that he attacked a man after he started getting threatening calls from a man in Reading.

"I tried to brush it off but he kept saying he was going to harm me. One night he told me my address and said he was going to come round and batter me in front of my mum and niece Mya, who was only about two," he told The Sun.

When the show was launched in May, presenter Ant McPartlin said: "All the checks will be in place so they're not going to be criminals but when you randomly select people, who knows? And I love the idea that someone from any background could win £1 million."

[SardineQueen]

If they don't want people with criminal records to win the money they need to filter them out first.

He was allowed to enter, he won the competition. So he keeps the money.

If they don't like it they need to change their rules/vetting procedures upfront.

Otherwise it makes for:

a. Pretty dull programmes where all the drama of whether someone may or may not win is taken away by the fact that even if they win they may later be deemed not to have won

and

b. It shouldn't be up to the general public / certain areas of the press to decide who is a "worthy" winner of prizes and force TV companies and others to act on it

There was an outcry when thingy won Who want to be a millionairre as she was posh, wasn't there. And there was that "lottery lout" bloke who's blown all his dosh. I'm sure there are more. There's always going to be something.

[SardineQueen]

And that serial rapist bloke who got to keep his lottery win.

What's the difference? If he can keep it surely this bloke can,

[carabos]

Normally when a criminal is sentenced, the sentence is quite clear - maybe something like "go to prison for 18 months". There isn't usually any sort of rider to that which says "and by the way you can't win a bottle of bubble bath on the tombola or £1m on a gameshow ever again." As other posters have said, if he entered and won within the rules, then he keeps the money, simples.

[cornsylk]

Simon Cowell wasn't fussed about Cheryl Cole having a criminal record.

[frazzle26]

I think he should be allowed to keep it as he has served his time.