Jason Duckett went with wife Rowena on ITV’s The 1% Club, which whittles down a field of 100 until anyone left can try to claim the £100,000 prize.
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The correct answer to one question asked by host Lee Mack was “ear” and “hear” — and Jason was then spotted rubbing both lobes by viewers.
Wild online claims triggered a probe, which soon cleared DJ Jason and lawyer Rowena.
Both had already been eliminated when the gestures came.
Jason, 36, of Romford, East London, said: “I almost admire the creativity of someone to come up with that because I hadn’t thought of that.
“There was nothing to gain for either of us. We were both out. Anything I was doing it was to just sort of calm myself.
“If you spin it, you could say my arms are folded. Was the answer harm and arm?”
Lee chatted to the Ducketts on the show, pointing out they were husband and wife.
They joked they preferred their surname pronounced “Doo-kay” — like how Hyacinth Bucket pronounced her’s “Bouquet” in sitcom Keeping up Appearances.
One viewer of Saturday’s show tweeted: “Did anyone else notice this guy giving away the answer when he touched both his ears?”
Another wrote: “Ear ear . . . think there was a wee bit of cheating going on in 1% Club.”
A third added: “Bit naughty from Mr Duckett there rubbing his ear.”
The claims had echoes of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? fraudster Major Charles Ingram who won £1million after being tipped off by a pal coughing in the audience.
A 1% Club spokesman said: “Any game show worth its salt attracts conspiracy theories. But happily, initial inquiries quickly established that there were no grounds for suspicion.”
TV and radio’s most famous cheating scandals
Major Charles Ingram won £1million on ITV’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire? after being tipped off by a coughing pal.
All three people involved in the con were convicted of procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception on April 7, 2003.
Michael Larson – an unemployed ice cream van driver – won £87,000 on hit programme Press Your Luck but was refused his winnings after TV bosses claimed he cheated.
Following intense scrutiny, Larson later revealed how he won the show.
He had a VCR where he was able to watch the episodes on repeat for 12 months straight, memorising the game board’s five cash-winning patterns.
The chiefs at CBS considered holding back the money, however, they later conceded that Larson technically did not break any rules.
Rodney Alcala appeared on US show The Dating Game in 1978 before later being revealed to be a registered sex offender – and later went on to become a serial killer.
He was sentenced to death in 2010 for the five murders and admitted a further two more, but his true kill count has never been uncovered as they spanned across the entire US.
Caroline Banana bagged £95,000 on Deal or No Deal in 2011 – but two years later was hauled to court after failing to declare her winnings while claiming housing and council tax benefits alongside income support.
Banana, from Stoke-on-Trent, admitted that she had wrongly received more than £6,100, and was ordered to carry out 215 hours of unpaid work after admitting benefit fraud.
She was also found to have falsely claimed benefits while working at a chemists, hospital and doctors’ surgery in 2011 and 2012.
And she also admitted to falsely claiming free school meal allowances.