The Chase star Paul Sinha has disclosed that the name by which fans recognise him is not his actual name. While a guest on the Staying Relevant podcast, host Sam Thompson introduced Paul to the audience, but highlighted that his name "isn't actually Paul".
Real Name and Cultural Context
Verifying this was accurate, the 56-year-old explained: "It's a weird thing, it's quite a common thing with sons of Asian immigrants in this country, we often, in Bengali it's called a Daknam and a Bhalanam.
"Your Daknam is what they call you. Your Bhalanam is what you're really called," he clarified. "My real name is Supriya, but it's spelt with an A which means it gets pronounced Supriya (with emphasis on the a), which is a girl's name.
"And so there was quite a good motivation to have a more common name. They called me, my mum and dad called me Paul all my life," he continued.
School Friends Know Him as Supriya
The quiz expert proceeded to reveal that during his upbringing he was typically known by Paul, though was addressed by his "real name" at school. "So all my school friends know me as Supriya, but I'm called Paul by literally everybody else," he noted, before disclosing that it was his parents who selected the name as it was "the first thing that came into their heads".
On television, he is also recognised by The Chase viewers as The Sinnerman. Paul became the programme's fourth Chaser in 2011 and is currently one of six, alongside Anne Hegerty, Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Jenny Ryan and Darragh Ennis.
Top-Performing Chaser and Health Update
Based on figures from last year, he emerged as the top-performing Chaser with the highest victory rate, recording an impressive 78 per cent success rate across 436 appearances.
During a recent podcast interview, he spoke candidly about his future on the programme while giving an update on his wellbeing following his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. He was diagnosed with the condition, which causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over many years, in 2019.
According to the NHS, the main symptoms include involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body (tremor), slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles. Paul has stated that his condition does not impact his quizzing ability, though he acknowledges he would walk away from the programme if he felt it did.
"What I've always said about The Chase is, if I think I'm a liability I'll just leave," he said on The Courage To Speak podcast. "If I think I'm not worth my position on the show, I'll just say it's time to make a dignified exit."
The quizmaster, nonetheless, remains resolute in his desire to "get on with life" and continue his career, which also encompasses stand-up comedy. The Chase airs weekdays from 5pm on ITV and ITVX.
