The Chase host Bradley Walsh was left utterly bewildered when a contestant made an unexpected suggestion.
The latest instalment on Tuesday featured four fresh faces - Minh, Del, Steve, and Katie - ready to take on quizzing goliath Mark Labbett. Minh set the stage with an impressive £5,000 win, smoothly sailing past the Beast to secure a spot in the Final Chase, with Del and Steve quickly following suit.
Katie, eager to join her teammates in the final round, accumulated £4,000 in the cash-builder. However, the tension soared when The Beast dangled a high offer of £63,000 to step closer to him or a risky lower offer of minus £5,000 to move towards the Final Chase. The atmosphere in the studio thickened as Steve recommended Katie think about the negative offer, leaving Bradley in a state of shock. Mark couldn't help but jest: "That caused him physical pain. Medic!"
Audiences at home were equally stunned by Steve's controversial advice, with tweets flooding in such as: "Steve's a maverick, -£5,000 really!" and "Bloody hell Steve!" Despite the earlier drama, all four contestants advanced to the Final Chase to face off against The Beast once again.
After Katie successfully reached the Final Chase, Bradley didn't hold back in addressing Steve's prior recommendation, remarking with gravity: "I'm going to be serious now. Steve, minus!" The team of four had their eyes on a £21,000 prize and successfully racked up 17 steps. However, their hard work was for nothing as the Beast caught them with 22 seconds left on the clock, leaving them empty-handed.
It comes after The Chase was beaten by a rival show which has now become the most popular game show on TV. Lee Mack's The 1% Club has now been crowned the biggest quiz show across 2023, averaging around 5.8 million viewers each week. The Chase has a regular audience of between three to five million viewers each day. The show fronted by Bradley was once dubbed the most successful game show on UK television.
But new information released by the network reveals that The 1% Club has taken over and has become the biggest original game show for the station in over a decade. The programme tests the IQ of the contestants as the questions are not based on general knowledge but instead, on common sense.
The first series which aired in April 2022 attracted an average of 4.39 million viewers. But a recent episode of the quiz show on April 6, this year, was the most watched programme for 16-34-year-olds, with 44% of the demographic tuning in. It went on to be the most popular programme of the night with a 34% share of viewers.
Catch The Chase, weekdays at 5pm on ITV.
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