The Chase’s Mark Labbett apologises and explains why he stormed off set
The Chaser walked out during a recent episode
Last updated 28th Jan 2022
The Chase star Mark Labbett, who is better known as The Beast on the popular quiz show, has issued an apology after he stormed off the show following a defeat, and has explained why he left the set to abruptly.
On Wednesday’s episode (26th January), Mark congratulated his opponents before saying: "I'm off” and proceeded to walk off set.
Presenter Bradley Walsh then apologised to ‘kids watching’, saying: "That is not how you should take defeat."
However, Mark has now apologised for his behaviour, explaining that his mental health “was shot” during filming that day, explaining why he walked away so abruptly.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: ‘Apologies to those of you disappointed with my behaviour tonight. My mental health was shot before that game, it was storm off or break down in tears. A remorseless diet of quality opponents didn’t help #thechase’.
His fellow Chaser Paul Sinha then supported him, replying: ‘You should never have to apologise for the crime of "being human". I'd have been nowhere on those questions.’
His fans also offered their support, with one adding: ‘You were gracious at the defeat, then did the storm off. There's nothing wrong with that, we've all lost the rag for a lot less. Don't be so hard on yourself.’
If you are struggling with mental health yourself, or are worried about a friend, then please visit our Where's Your Head At? campaign, or contact Samaritans (available 24/7), at samaritans.org, phone 116 123 or online chat.
In other The Chase news, viewers were left ‘worried’ this week after the word ‘lawyer’ was spelt wrong on one of the questions.
Fans noticed the mistake when Bradley asked the question: "The word 'shyster' originally referred to an unscrupulous person in what profession?"
Contestant Alex and Chaser Anne Hegarty was then given three potential answers, 'Laywer', 'Doctor', and 'Architect'.
Many took to social media as they spotted the mistake, with one fan commenting: 'Do the question setters on The Chase not run the questions through a spell checker before going on air?'.
Another exclaimed: 'Hate to be the grammar police (that’s a lie!) but what is a laywer? Someone get my lawyer on the phone!' (sic)
Check out all of the things you didn't know about The Chase:
The Chasers are the best of friends
Despite their rivalry throughout the show, Anne 'The Governess' Hegerty, Mark 'The Beast' Labbett, Shaun 'The Dark Destroyer' Wallace, Paul 'The Sinnerman' Sinha and Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan are all good friends outside of the show and regularly hang out.
Jenny and Anne even quiz together on Monday nights!
Bradley Walsh can film up to three shows a day
There has been thousands of episodes of The Chase, and show host Bradley has hosted every single one. Filming for the show now has a quick turnaround, and only takes around two hours, with 12 episodes recorded over a period of four days.
Before The Chase, The Chasers all had pretty normal (but intellectual) real-life jobs
Mark used to be a Maths teacher (he is a mathematician after all), Anne was a proof reader, Paul is a stand-up comedian, Jenny is a writer, Shaun is still a criminal barrister and newest Chaser Darragh Ennis was a former contestant!
The Chase has been running for 12 years!
The first episode aired on 29th June 2009.
Contestants are completely unaware of which Chaser they are facing.
Bradley has no clue either.
Over the years, hundreds of thousands of questions have been asked.
The Chase has a team of around eight question writers from all sorts of backgrounds, including Olav Bjortomt, the number one quizzer in the world!
Bradley Walsh doesn't see the questions beforehand either, saying: "The second the contestant sees the question, that's when I see the question."
The Chase airs in nine countries
There are nine international versions of The Chase, with shows airing in Australia, China, Croatia, Germany, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and the United States.
Some of the shows also feature familiar faces, as both Mark Labbett (The Beast) and Anne Hegerty (The Governess) both appear on the Australian version. Mark Labbett also stars on the United States version.
The Chasers all give 100% and get annoyed when they lose
The Chasers are officially the most competitive people in the world. Facts. They're not a fan of losing, even when the contestants (who are sometimes celebrities) are playing for charity.
Contestants do beat The Chasers, though! In September 2021, 20-year-old Eden took home a whopping £75k after beating Darragh Ennis. He won the biggest amount of prize money ever won on daytime TV show by a solo player. Impressive.
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