The Chase stars’ sneaky behind-the-scenes trick to deal with losing
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The Chase stars have revealed they have developed a sneaky way to get over losing to members of the public on the hit ITV series to make sure it never happens again.
While ITV wants losses to keep the programme interesting, the Chasers – who are among the brainiest people in the UK – do all they can to avoid it by watching back the episode over and over again.
Paul Sinha, also known as The Sinnerman, was beaten in a recent episode by tutor Karen and magician Ian meaning the pair took home 100k, and he’s already rewound it ‘again and again and again and again’.
‘You don’t get better as a Chaser if you don’t watch what you did wrong,’ he told Metro.co.uk at The National Television Awards.
After his rewatch, Paul, 54, determined that it all came down to him interrupting one question. ‘It was just that one mistake. If I hadn’t done that, I’d have won the game,’ he deciphered.
However, he doesn’t give himself too much of a hard time when his competitors are talented: ‘If a team plays well and they beat you, I’m relatively okay. But if a team don’t do too well and they win because I was bad, then I’m very annoyed.
The Chase stars don’t like losing (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
‘We’re also aware that we never lose the audience will hate it,’ he added.
Being so analytical also means he’s been able to pick up on other signals, such as host Bradley Walsh’s ‘tic’.
‘You start to work out Bradley’s tone of voice. Sometimes he makes a little face when the question’s about to be brutal. He doesn’t know he’s doing it,’ Paul shared.
Paul watches back every loss repeatedly (Picture: ITV)
Darragh Ennis revealed he employs a similar method to Paul after a loss, and will also spend hours watching back episodes as training for a new series, and not just his own.
‘I’ve watched every single final chase there has ever been on The Chase,’ he stated.
While he may be the newest member of the gang – which also includes Jenny Ryan, Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, and Anne Hegerty – after joining in 2020, he’s quickly established himself as a key player.
Bradley has presented The Chase since it began 15 years ago (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
He originally found his way onto the series as a contestant three years earlier, and his performance was so impressive that he eventually crossed the floor and bagged himself a spot as a permanent addition.
In his original episode, the 43-year-old won £9000 in his cash-builder round and then was able to make it back to the panel by answering enough questions correctly when facing The Sinnerman.
His three co-stars all took lower figures to be a step closer to home, including two minus offers, so in the final chase, despite putting in a stellar performance and winning, he had £1,575 to show for it – still a lovely chunk of cash for a day’s work.
Darragh didn’t find out his show name until he started recorded (Picture: ITV)
Of course, it paid off in the long run and he got a permanent position, but the bosses kept one key detail from him until the cameras started recording – his name on the series.
His first introduction revealed that he was to be called The Menace. ‘I had no choice but to smile,’ he recalled.
Darragh continued: ‘I was happy with it, but honestly, I would have worn a chicken suit to be in that seat. They could have called me whatever. I just wanted to get on the telly.’
The Chase has been on the air for 15 years and just won the daytime award at the NTAs. Bradley declared: ‘Here’s to another 15 years’ after picking up the gong.
The Chase airs on ITV1 at 5:00pm on weekdays.
This article was first published on September 13.
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