Over the years the Tipping Point machine has caused controversy amongst viewers and some people have come up with some wild and mind-blowing theories. The show is hosted by Ben Shephard and it has recently celebrated being on TV for 10 years.
Throughout the decade viewers have watched on the edge of their seats as the contestants try and win £10,000. However the biggest mystery about the series is, of course, about the machine.
As for the game itself, it is pretty simple, with the contestants answering questions and as they get one right, they get to put a coin in the machine. The counter will then push some counters out of the machine and each counter out of the machine wins the player £50, reports The Mirror.
Lucky contestants could see their prize pots doubled if they bag a double counter, making their earnings even bigger. The last remaining player is the contestant who has the most money and they are left playing with the jackpot counter, which is worth a whopping £10,000.
The jackpot counter has the rare potential of doubling if it lands with a double counter. As a whole, the game seems fairly straight forward, right? Wrong.
Ben, 47, set the record straight in an interview as he described how the famous counter machine is made up of a "complicated system". In 2019, the part-time Good Morning Britain host gave fans an insight as he answered some of Britain's most-asked questions about the show.
He told Huffington Post : "It’s a really complicated system that is run by the gallery. It’s such a complicated set up, which is why when people ask if we can take it on the road, that’s the reason why we can’t."
Whilst the machine runs on its own impressive electronics, there is still a person that plays a vital role of sitting behind the machine on a chair.
"He has to make sure the hydraulics are going at the right pace, because sometimes they can be too fast. He has to make sure the hoppers that feed the counter are full," Ben said.
A ladder is placed behind the machine to allow members of the production team to fill the machine with counters when they're ready to be dropped. 40 counters are placed rather than dropped to start the game in no particular order.
Behind the scenes, a runner comes onto set to count the number of counters that fall, so Ben can tell contestants how much money they've bagged. The runner then clears the dropped counters. Ahead of each show, counters are individually polished, so that no markings show up on camera.
Despite Ben confirming that it's very much a real set-up, it hasn't stopped fans' wild and mind-blowing theories that "secret magnets" are skewering the game. A theory proposed by a fan suggested there's more than meets the eye on the hit game show.
One viewer flocked to Twitter to point out their theory, writing: "#tippingpoint definitely a magnet underneath pulling that to the left, that's not physically possible otherwise!" The viewer shared a clip of the counters seemingly being pulled towards the left.
The video sparked a widespread discussion, as many other viewers began giving their takes on if they agree. One viewer wrote: "There have been many odd moves of the counters over the years. Fishy!"
Another penned: "I always think the machine is slightly tilted to one side." A third agreed, adding: "I’ve often thought there must be a magnet under the metal bed. It couldn’t be static could it?"
Meanwhile, a fourth described the whole ordeal as "pretty scandalous".
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