It was simply another day in the cut-throat world of broadcasting in a multi-channel world, some might say.
This past week Blue Peter, a cherished children's programme which has run on the BBC since 1958, became the most recent in a wave of television and radio shows to admit conning the audience during phone-in competitions.
During a segment on a show that ran before Christmas, viewers were shown a mystery celebrity's shoes alongside another visual clue, asked to choose from three options and ring in with their guess.
The prize was a choice of one of the top 10 toys at Christmas, and part of the cost of the call was to be given to the children's charity Unicef to benefit children orphaned by Aids in Malawi.
According to the station's computers, nearly 14,000 viewers called in, but a software glitch meant that not one got through to the actual competition.
A panicking producer asked a girl visiting the studios as a prize from another competition to pose as a caller and 'win' this latest competition, which she duly did.