Quiz Michael Sheen as Chris Tarrant
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Quiz star Michael Sheen reveals how Chris Tarrant reacted to his casting

Michael plays the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host in the new ITV drama

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Quiz began on ITV last night and immediately had viewers gripped.

It was Michael Sheen’s performance as former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host Chris Tarrant that really had fans singing the new drama’s praises.

Michael’s performance as Chris in Quiz has been praised (Credit: ITV)

Viewers all had the same thing to say about Michael’s uncanny portrayal of the host.

But how did Chris himself react to Michael’s casting in the role?

READ MORE: Take the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire quiz Charles Ingram cheated on

According to Michael, Chris might not have been too impressed!

Michael Sheen on Graham Norton2
Graham Norton interviewed Michael Sheen about Quiz (Credit: BBC)

Read more: The Nest viewers left hanging as show fails to answer big question

Speaking on the Graham Norton Show on Friday night (April 10), Michael was talking to Graham via video link and let slip what happened when he met Chris.

When Michael Sheen met Chris Tarrant

Michael revealed he’d watched hours of footage of Chris on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and thinks Chris is amazing at what he does.

The actor added: “I watched him so much, I’d never met him in real life, and I’d watched him so much, you do have a weird relationship to the person, never having met them.

“Then I did meet him, I bumped into him not long after I’d finished filming, at the Pride of Britain Awards.

“I was having my photograph taken and I heard this voice behind me say: ‘He looks nothing like me’, and I turned around and there’s Chris Tarrant!”

Michael joked about his first encounter with Chris Tarrant (Credit: BBC)

He continued: “It’s odd when you meet famous people anyway, but when you meet someone you’ve been obsessively watching for so long, it’s a very peculiar thing.”

Michael Sheen’s Quiz performance is a hit

However, it seems Michael’s performance in the end was a hit with the Tarrant family. Chris’s son, Toby, tweeted after the first episode that he was impressed.

“Really enjoyed Quiz tonight, looking forward to the rest of it. Michael Sheen as expected is brilliant as Dad.”

Chris himself hasn’t commented on Michael’s actual performance, but in his Mail Online column on Saturday (April 11), he did say Michael is “far prettier than I ever was, so I’m flattered.”

Chris Tarrant unsure about Quiz

The former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host also said he does have a “slight problem” with the TV drama.

The presenter wrote: “I have just one slight problem with Quiz.

“It suggests the ‘Coughing Major’ Charles Ingram might possibly be innocent of fraud. And that is blatant nonsense.

“It’s ridiculous that this show can be broadcast over three nights and yet nobody is saying, ‘Hang on a minute, this man’s a crook. He’s guilty every step of the way.'”

Chris Tarrant SplashNews.com
Chris Tarrant has given his verdict on Quiz (Credit: WP Pix/SplashNews.com)

The drama tells the story of Charles and Diana Ingram (Matthew MacFadyen and Sian Clifford) after the former won £1million on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Charles was later accused of cheating after it was alleged a member of the audience, Tecwen Whittock, had been coughing to indicate the correct answers.

The contestant was then convicted of “procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception”.

ITV quiz cast (Credit: ITV)
Sian Clifford, Matthew MacFadyen and Michael Sheen as Diana and Charles Ingram, and Chris Tarrant in Quiz (Credit: ITV)

Read more: Quiz: meet the real-life people behind drama’s cheating scandal

Quiz writer James Graham has said he’s ‘unsure’ whether Charles and Diana Ingram were guilty.

He told Radiotimes.com: “I don’t judge the jury for making the decision that they did, they were presented with the evidence they were presented with, and they came to a decision, and that currently is the decision.

“But certainly having been presented with new evidence, I have my own doubts about the clarity of that narrative.”

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Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)