It’s rare for him to be beaten at all, but a group of very brave contestants have now managed to completely wipe the floor with The Chase‘s famed genius Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett – leaving him watching on stunned as they embraced and jumped up and down in shock at the incredible win.
In the latest episode of the UK version of the show – which also airs in Australia – Labbett was forced to sit back in stunned silence as three contestants took home £75,000 (AU $138K) between them, including a brave and quick thinking 73-year-old. Grandmother Marge left the crowd in awe when she chose to take him on for £63,000, with Labbett seemingly positive he’d win as he rubbed his hands together in delight at her gutsy move. However, she proved him wrong as she took the money back for her team.
It added to a £12,000 fund already won by her fellow contestants, 36-year-old Kelly, and 26-year-old Aaron. Their teammate Richard, 54, was unfortunately eliminated after his individual head-to-head round. The team of three then collectively went on to answer 17 correct questions to give themselves a good lead, before entering the final chase against Labbett.
With a few surprise mistakes from The Beast, the teammates beat him in an incredible last round and each went home £25,000 richer. “Thrilled for you by the way! Eight attempts at push back, five executed. It’s all about the push backs, well played. £25,000 each!” host Bradley Walsh told them all as they laughed and hugged each other in delight.
While Aaron revealed he plans to spend his money on a road trip around the US, Kelly chose to use the money for her shoe collection – while Marge revealed she plans to spend her money on a new car. And despite looking disgruntled at first, Labbett proved a fair loser as he told them: “The key thing is, you’ve punished my mistakes, you played brilliantly, and thanks to Marge, you’ve got £25,000 each. So bravo.”
It’s fairly uncommon for the chasers to be beaten so spectacularly, but not unheard of. In February this year UK contestant Judith took on Chaser Jenny Ryan, better known as ‘The Vixen’, where she became the show’s biggest ever solo winner – taking home £70,000 (AU$128,000) following an incredible showdown.
With just seconds left on the clock, they were both asked: “A ragamuffin is what breed of pet?” While The Vixen answered incorrectly with ‘dog’, Judith then got the right answer with ‘cat’ – and she appeared gobsmacked as host Bradley Walsh announced she’d won.
Showing a rare moment of true sportsmanship and kindness, The Vixen stood up at the end of the show and gave Judith a standing ovation – congratulating her on an “outstanding” performance. However, shortly after the episode aired, the Chaser was hit with cruel comments on social media from trolls who began calling for her to be fired for making the mistakes in the final round. When one person shared a GIF simply saying, “You’re fired”, she replied: “Oh baby no, that’s not how this works x.”
She went on to spectacularly slam another troll who called the 37-year-old “thick” in a now-deleted post, replying: “At least I know that it’s ‘would have’, ‘you’re’, and the correct place to use ‘with respect’ i.e. not directly before being disrespectful, rude and completely incorrect. You’re also short of a couple of question marks.”
When the troll replied: “Ohh comprehension police…” The Vixen then hit back: “Yes, I fully comprehend your original Tweet, and it was rude. If I was going to Tweet somebody claiming they are thick, then I’d make quite sure my spelling and grammar was spot on, for the avoidance of irony.” Meanwhile, when another wrote “youre s**t”, she then simply replied: “You’re missing an apostrophe.”
Seeing the onslaught of online abuse, Labbett stepped in to defend his friend, writing: “Interesting, Jenny has by FAR the best win-loss record on #thechase over the last three years yet the moment she loses (to a great solo 20) somebody calls for her to be sacked. Everyday Sexism?”
Shortly afterwards, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty jumped onboard too, writing:”I have an absolutely horrific loss coming up that’s going to make @jenlion look like Kevin Ashman.” After slamming several more trolls, The Vixen left the entire ordeal on a lighter note as she finally tweeted: “Well, it’s not all glamour. My last three conversations were with my mother, discussing the fruit content of various marmalades.”