£1m winner was jailed for attacking woman

ITV is under pressure after it emerged the first £1 million (€1.14m) winner of Simon Cowell’s game show 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 ex.

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 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 half, but it is thought that they did not know that the victim was a woman.

Mr Hageman previously told journalists he attacked a male victim after he started getting threatening calls from a man in Reading. “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. He said: “I was an idiot for doing it, I know, but that’s the state of mind I was in.

“He wasn’t seriously hurt, but he made a complaint and I was arrested. I was charged with aggravated burglary and ABH. I pleaded guilty straight away as I knew what I’d done was wrong. I got five years.”

When the show was launched in May, presenter Ant McPartlin said there would be checks to ensure winners were “not going to be criminals”. However, Cowell pointed out the show was likely to feature “all types”.