The Chase launches new spin-off series WITHOUT Bradley Walsh as Chasers challenge fans in weekly quizzes
THE Chase fans will soon put their wits against the brainbox panel as they go head-to-head in new series, The Chase EXTRA. Viewers of the hit ITV tea-time quiz show will be granted more mind-boggling challenges to get stuck into courtesy of the series of shorts, to be aired on the ITV Hub. The Chase‘s […]
THE Chase fans will soon put their wits against the brainbox panel as they go head-to-head in new series, The Chase EXTRA.
Viewers of the hit ITV tea-time quiz show will be granted more mind-boggling challenges to get stuck into courtesy of the series of shorts, to be aired on the ITV Hub.
The Chase‘s regular host, Bradley Walsh, will be replaced by one of the super clever Chasers, who include Mark ‘The Beast Labbett’, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty, Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha, Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan, Shaun ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Wallace and Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis.
They will each present their own episode of The Chase EXTRA, drumming up a series of 10 questions for the contestant to tackle.
The Chasers will also host their own unique interval which will show a different side to their clever characters, and see them telling jokes, giving quiz tips or playing a musical instrument.
The spin-off starts on Monday, March 8 at 6pm, running for six weeks.
Recently, The Chase’s big secret from behind the scenes came to light.
The Sun exclusively revealed the show – and it’s name – were based on Olympian Usain Bolt.
Creators were inspired by the fastest man in the world when he burst onto the scene at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Michael Kelpie, MD of Potato, which is part of ITV Studios, and exec producer/creator of The Chase, said: “When we created the show I joined at a fairly late stage. The process went on for months and months.
“Game show development is a laborious, torturous, rigorous process that takes forever and 99 per cent of the time it does not work.
“It started with a researcher after the Beijing Olympics when Usain Bolt first burst onto the scene, the fastest man in the world.
“Everybody in the world was excited by him and everybody in television and broadcasters all over the world were going ,’How can we get that excitement into our television programmes?’
“And in a dusty room in the ITV tower back in the day a development researcher went, ‘What if we did a quiz race and what if they (contestants) had to race against the Usain Bolt of quizzes?’ and that was the start of The Chase.”
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He continued: “You may say, ‘Oh my God that is a really simple idea,’ but it was a moment of pure genius and that person has done very, very well since financially.
“And it was all earned at the right place at the right time and the right thing to say. It was a fantastic development team.”
The show first started in 2009 and has always been presented by Bradley, 60.
The Chase EXTRA is being made in partnership with Gala Bingo and will be available via the ITV Hub at www.itv.com and stv.tv.