Judy apologised to viewers during the TV show last night.

"Richard and I knew absolutely nothing about this. We were very shocked and also angry on your behalf. We’re very sorry," she said.

Richard assured viewers a full investigation had been launched and vowed to "sort it out ASAP".

An average of 15,000 viewers per day are said to call the £1 a time premium rate number. Half the profits go to the phone provider, Eckoh, and after the prize money is taken out the rest is split between Channel 4 and the production firm Cactus TV.

TV quiz callers may be refunded - Feb 19 2007
Channel 4 is to refund callers to Richard and Judy’s You Say, We Pay competition if it’s found they have been cheated out of their cash, the broadcaster announced today.

They’ll get their money back if an investigation concludes they were encouraged to enter the competition without any prospect of winning.

Presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan will apologise in tonight’s show and say they are "very shocked and also angry" about the allegations, which came to light in a Sunday newspaper.

The phone-in competition has been suspended.

An average of 15,000 viewers per day are said to call the £1 a time premium rate number.

An email leaked to the Mail on Sunday alleged potential winners were selected in the first few minutes of the show but callers were still encouraged to phone in.

In tonight’s programme, Judy will say: "Before we go on, many of you will have read over the weekend and today that some problems have come to light with the You Say, We Pay competition. It seems some callers have not been properly entered into the competition.

"Richard and I knew nothing about this until late on Friday afternoon - we were very shocked and also angry on your behalf. We’re very sorry."

Richard will add: "A full investigation has been launched to find out exactly what’s happened, and we won’t be running You Say, We Pay for the time being.

"Once we know the full extent of the problem, we’ll be making arrangements for any viewers affected to get their money back."

There is no evidence to suggest Judy and Richard had any previous knowledge of the alleged problem.

Channel 4 to probe ’phone-in fix’ claims - Feb 19 2007
Channel 4 has launched an investigation into the Richard and Judy show following allegations that viewers are being cheated out of thousands of pounds in a phone-in competition.

Viewers who pay £1 to enter the You Say, We Pay competition have been encouraged to phone the premium rate number after the potential winners have been chosen, it was alleged.

Emails leaked to the Mail on Sunday reportedly show more than 32,000 people phoned in the week beginning February 5 after they had no chance of winning.

There was no evidence to suggest hosts Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley had any knowledge of the problem.

The competition was pulled on Friday by the programme’s makers, Cactus TV.

Channel 4 said today "something had obviously gone awry" and it was investigating.

The channel said: "We take these claims seriously and will be investigating them fully.

"Channel 4 is committed to ensuring all our on air competitions are conducted fairly and transparently and we reject any suggestion that we would knowingly mislead viewers in any way.