Viewers of The Chase were left fuming at Shaun Wallace, accusing the show of being "fixed".
In Monday's episode (November 11) of the popular ITV quiz show, Shaun faced off against contestants Stephen, Rachel, Tom and Bev. First to challenge the Dark Destroyer was Stephen, a 42-year-old product development manager.
Stephen demonstrated his impressive trivia knowledge in the cash builder round, racking up £7,000. As the first contestant, he decided not to gamble on the high offer and stuck with his original amount.
Shaun seemed to be in top form during the first head-to-head, answering every question correctly and eliminating Stephen in a significant setback for the team.
However, his winning streak abruptly ended when he went up against Rachel. The 20-year-old student earned £4,000 in the cash builder, but opted for the lower offer of £1,000 to ensure her return to the team, reports the Express.
Shaun made a mistake by guessing that lambswool gets heavier when it burns, as opposed to steel wool, allowing Rachel to extend her lead.
The pair were then asked: "What part of the Statue of Liberty is approximately 29 feet long?" While Rachel correctly guessed torch, Shaun incorrectly assumed it was the crown.
In another unexpected move, Shaun answered 'practical joke' when asked: "A corny joke or pun is known by what expression?" instead of the correct answer, 'dad joke'.
He also incorrectly guessed that there was only one American state beginning with 'T', rather than two.
Viewers were left stunned as Shaun Wallace, known as 'The Dark Destroyer' on The Chase, fluffed four questions in a single round, prompting fans to voice their disbelief on social media. A viewer exclaimed: "Surely Shaun is letting her get through. He can't be that stupid. Surely."
Another tweeted: "Shaun gets more wrong in this round than the other Chasers usually do in the whole show," while one wrote: "Has Shaun got any questions right??".
Speculation continued as another remarked: "Nah, there is no way Shaun Wallace is getting some of these questions, genuinely, wrong. He's being told to put the wrong answers!".
An exasperated fan also commented: "Shaun Wallace doesn't know what a dad joke is? Oh f*** off! He's a mastermind champion and here he is helping to fix The Chase."
However, despite the online buzz and conspiracy theories, Shaun remained unperturbed and successfully eliminated 32-year-old contestant Tom, leaving teammates Bev and Rachel to face him in the final chase with £8,000 on the line.
In the end, even a decent attempt by Bev and Rachel with 15 correct answers wasn't enough; Shaun showcased his quizzing prowess yet again, catching them with a cool 31 seconds to spare.