A finalist on ITV's The Chase Around The World has revealed what actually happens behind the scenes of the new spin-off.
The Chase has been one of ITV's biggest programmes since its launch in 2009. Presented by Bradley Walsh, it sees four strangers working as a team to answer general knowledge questions to defeat one of the quiz specialists known as The Chasers.
Pulling in millions of viewers every day for ITV, The Chase is one of the most successful and longest-running game shows on UK television. It has won seven National Television Awards, including awards for Best Daytime and Best Quiz Show.
How the spin-off works
Previous spin-offs of The Chase include Beat The Chase. Debuting in 2020, that series saw contestants having to try to beat five Chasers at the time. Last month marked the premiere of a brand new Chase spin-off titled The Chase Around The World.
The series began with six teams of two having to locate all six of the Chasers who were hiding across the world. The teams had to use their general knowledge, observation skills and intellect to solve the clues to track down the Chasers.
In a genius twist, the pair who arrived last at each destination had to take on the Chasers in a quiz. If they won, they got to keep the time advantage by picking who left the starting line last in the next city. However, if they lost, they were immediately out.
Finalist's experience
With the final airing last night, a finalist named Steven, who is competing with his dad David, spoke to the Manchester Evening News about how they got involved in the series and what it was like working on it.
"I grew up watching a lot of quiz shows," he said. "Me and my dad had both applied to go on the regular Chase and never heard anything back. I didn't even make it past the first stage. I saw an advert for this on TikTok one day. I filled out the application form and at the end of it they wanted you to do a bit with both of you.
"My dad lives in Cumbria and I live in Manchester so I sent in a video of me chatting to the camera. I decided to make it stand out, I'd juggle pears throughout all of the video. I was amazed they called me back because my dad didn't even feature in the video."
"I applied a week and a bit before the deadline thinking they'd have already cast everyone. This was like at the end of March. I heard back on Good Friday, which was two weeks later. They said 'we're starting filming in three weeks'. It was a really quick turnaround. Everything that has happened, including its airing, has been in the space of five months which is mad."
According to Steven, his dad 'wasn't surprised by the news' due to the amount of TV shows he's put him up for over the years. Prior to them being accepted, the father and son took part in several quiz auditions.
He explained: "We'd get random phone calls where they'd throw random questions at us. We had to go to London for the final audition. My dad just wanted to know how many people we'd be up against, but they wouldn't tell him."
"I understood the general idea of the show, I didn't realise that each place you went the questions were going to be heavily about where we were. We didn't know where we were going to be. It was hard to revise random cities. That's what they wanted, they don't want people predicting what will happen. They want natural reactions to stuff."
"I didn't know there was going to be as much navigating as there was. One of the producers was from Race Across The World, this had the best aspects of both shows. I applied for Race Across The World before. Me and my dad's main thing we bond over is quizzes, this felt even better suited to us. I couldn't believe that they actually wanted us. It was a relief to have been chosen."
Filming and meeting Bradley Walsh
One day before they flew to Italy for filming, Steven and David stayed at a hotel in London, where they tried to figure out who else was taking part. However, they later learned that everyone was in different hotels.
"The first time we met two other contestants was at the airport, where we learned we were going to Rome. The other three pairs had already flown out at 5am and we met them at the hotel, the next morning at breakfast."
"We sat in cars by the coliseum on the first day of filming and did our entrances. Then Bradley was just standing there. Our first interaction with him was on camera. That was quite exciting and it made it all feel real. I thought 'what the hell is going on in my life'."
"Then they were like 'the race starts now, you're doing a buzzer quiz to decide the order you leave'. It was a new challenge every day from here. You never knew what to expect," Steven stated.
What happens off-air
Due to them completing their challenges swiftly and reaching the destinations in good time, the team are yet to have taken on one of the Chasers in a one-on-one showdown. However, David admitted that they didn't necessarily want their rivals to lose.
"We spent a lot of time together and got close. You're aware it's a competition. I thought that the more people who got through increased our odds of getting to the next one. There's another couple who could be last behind us. It was daunting seeing them beat them. We were lucky we didn't have to do that as I think I'd have been a nervous wreck," he said.
In spite of this, they did get to spend time with the Chasers. Steven recalled: "When we were in Barcelona it was Jenny and Darragh who met us. They were really nice and a calming pair. I think they sent them out because they're maybe more similar to us. Darragh was a contestant and knows what it likes."
"In the final, I went somewhere with him which was fun. He's a man of science and I work in science. We were in a cable car in Zurich with Anne and Shawn. Anne was having a great time looking out the window while we were going down the steepest cable car in the world."
Asked how his friends reacted to him being on the series, Steven said: "I disappeared for a month because they took your phone off you. My work was a bit unsure at first, but they were really kind about it and let me go. All my colleagues and friends were all really excited for me. A lot of us have bonded over quizzing and asked why I didn't bring them with me. I had to bring my dad.
"I had maybe 15 people over to watch the first episode. We were in the middle of the pack so we didn't really feature. Some of my friends asked if we were even there. As the show's gone on we've been in it more and have shown our personalities. I'm having a watch party for the final to make it a memorable moment."
"A lot of people are avoiding asking how we did because I'm bad at keeping secrets, I'm pretending that it didn't happen and that I wasn't there. A lot of people worked out that I got far because of how far we got. We were just really happy that we got to the final."
Keeping his lips sealed on whether they managed to take home the £100,000 prize, Steven branded The Chase Around The World 'an amazing opportunity, full of so many memories'.
"It gave me a great understanding of what happens behind the scenes. They all told me stories about the shows they've worked on, which calmed me down during the moments of panic"
"It's made me appreciate traveling more. I feel like I was scared to do it and was holding back, maybe I got a bit stagnant with it. Race Across The World would be the dream show. I'm going through a big phase of watching Ross Kemps' Bridge of lies, I'd love to go on that."
