Daytime quiz show‘ The Chase’ has built a solid following ever since its launch in 2009, thanks to its original format, four pantomime villains in the shape of the Chasers and a brilliant host in former 'Coronation Street' star Bradley Walsh.
For the uninitiated (errrm, have you never had a day off sick?), a team of four contestants individually attempt to amass a load of cash by taking on The Chaser by answering multiple choice questions.
Any individual who survives the initial chase later plays collectively as a team for an equal share of the prize fund against the Chaser in the nail-biting 'Final Chase'.
With the UK show regularly attracting up to 5 million viewers, the format has now gone global and made stars out of regular Chasers Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett, Shaun ‘The Barrister’ Wallace, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty, Paul ‘The Smiling Assassin’ Sinha and newbie Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan.
With the ITV show bagging awards and more and more of us tuning in every day, we thought it was high time we dug around to find out more about daytime telly’s biggest show.
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(01 of08)
Open Image Modal1. ‘The Chase’ has become a global hit with versions of the show now appearing on television screens in the Russia, China, Croatia, Germany, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and the US. (credit:ITV)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(02 of08)
Open Image Modal2. Three hour-long episodes of ‘The Chase’ are filmed back-to-back each day, with each episode taking around two hours to record. (credit:ITV)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(03 of08)
Open Image Modal3. Mark Labbett, aka The Beast, is the only Chaser to appear on more than one version of the show. As well as the British series he can also be seen taking on American contestants on ‘The Chase USA’. (credit:ITV)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(04 of08)
Open Image Modal4. The newest Chaser, Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan was recommended by fellow Chaser Anne 'The Governess' Hegerty. The pair are on the same quiz league team. "I’m the captain so I get to boss her around," Jenny revealed. (credit:ITV)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(05 of08)
Open Image Modal5. Back in 2013, Twitter was all of a fluster after Chaser Paul Sinha won the final chase even though many viewers believed he had run out of time before fully answering the final question, as this picture appears to prove. The finalists ended up missing out on a prize fund of £53,000. Ouch. (credit:Twitter)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(06 of08)
Open Image Modal6. Chaser Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty might be the top performing Chaser AND hold the rank of Grandmaster in the UK quiz rankings (yes, this is a thing), but she’s only 40th in the World Quizzing Championships rankings, which is a whole 9 places lower than fellow chaser Paul Sinha. (credit:ITV)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(07 of08)
Open Image Modal7. Spoiler alert! The Chasers are given a little help from a scriptwriter with the witty lines they dish out to the contestants and host Bradley Walsh, but they’re just suggestions and are never set in stone, as much of the banter which comes across on screen is ad libbed. (credit:ITV)
'The Chase': 9 Facts In 90 Seconds(08 of08)
Open Image Modal8. Chaser Shaun Wallace (who is a barrister by day) won the 2004 series of ‘Mastermind’. His specialist subject in the final was FA Cup Finals. (credit:ITV)