first winner of the £1m prize, had a criminal record. This led to ITV dropping three other contestants from the show, with at least one withdrawn because of their criminal record. This was also a major factor in the pre-recording of series 2. Production An initial pilot of the show was ordered in 2003 by ITV, from production company FremantleMedia, and was commissioned by Claudia Rosencrantz, who was the controller of entertainment at ITV at the time. It was presented by Brian Conley, but was not broadcast; a series was not produced. Rosencrantz spoke of the pilot in 2011, "I didn't believe people would like to see someone win a vast sum of money, with no skills at all involved. Second, gambling is not a spectator sport, you get an adrenaline rush from participating in it." Richard Holloway, who worked with FremantleMedia at the time of producing the pilot, said, "It was a novel idea, you could win a million pounds eventually, I was surprised it didn't go to series." Rosencrantz left ITV in 2006, and there has been a significant turnover in staff since the pilot was originally put together. The show was launched by ITV and Syco at the Millennium Hotel Mayfair, London, on 3 May 2011. The initial recruitment phase for contestants lasted until 13 May. The updated format was conceived by Simon Cowell, who said that it was inspired by roulette and the story of Ashley Revell, who had bet his entire life savings on "red" in a roulette game in Las Vegas. It is the most expensive game show in history, at around £1.5m per episode. ITV's director of entertainment and comedy, Elaine Bedell, was contacted by Cowell, "This being Simon this was at 1.30 am, but even then it was quite a compelling idea". When later talking about the £1m prize on offer each night, Cowell said, "It's expensive if you have to give away a million every night but we have insurance for that." Being a co-production between Syco TV and ITV Studios, Cowell began planning for international versions straight away, saying, "I'd love to take it around the world. I think the concept works. If it succeeds it will travel. We've got interest in America already." Some Syco-managed acts appeared on the show, including Leona Lewis on the first episode. Domino's Pizza was announced as the primary sponsor of the show in