A former The Chase contestant has said she was "disappointed" by host Bradley Walsh during her appearance on the programme in 2019. Kath from Cheshire, alongside three other hopefuls, faced Chaser Paul Sinha, though only she and one teammate progressed to the final chase.
Despite trying to answer as many questions correctly as possible, they managed just 10, handing Paul a significant advantage and ultimately leaving them with no winnings.
Backstage surprises
Kath has now opened up about her experience, revealing she felt both "excited and terrified" about participating, though claims "a few things" caught her off guard. The contestant explained she was particularly eager to meet the long-standing presenter, but alleged he wasn't quite what she had anticipated.
Kath revealed: "I was a bit disappointed with Bradley. I was really looking forward to meeting him, but he seemed to be in a bad mood on my film day."
"We heard raised voices backstage and we didn't get much interaction in ad breaks. He wasn't as funny and smiley as I hoped. This didn't really help to settle nerves," she alleged. "He appeared very occupied by something other than our team and we weren't expecting that."
Intimidating experience
Kath also claimed she didn't get the chance to meet Paul, aka The Sinnerman, beforehand, which she said made the whole experience more "intimidating". "This does make it a bit intimidating as you don't see them out of the role. There's no chat at all. Both Bradley and the Chaser left the set during breaks," she added.
Kath went on to describe the set as "cheap and tacky", though she commended the production team working behind the scenes, in an exclusive conversation with Mecca Bingo.
Behind the scenes care
"Behind the scenes you are well looked after - you take a few different outfits for them to choose between then they iron the best one and leave it in your dressing room," she revealed. "You get to go to hair and make-up, and they provide decent quality sandwiches (M&S). I don't remember any rules, but we were asked to guess answers rather than pass. We had to practice our introductions a few times so that bit could be filmed quickly."
Regarding meeting her fellow contestants, she added: "A minibus picks up the whole team of four from their hotel/station or wherever you are, and you spend the rest of the time with them, meeting nobody else but crew. Once they have picked up the last person, they tell you that you are the team - that was a bit surprising as I expected to meet other contestants."
Other contestant's memory
Meanwhile, Margaret Johnson, The Chase's oldest ever female contestant, recalled meeting Bradley in the studio, claiming he did something he'd never done while filming before. Speaking to Yours Magazine last year, she remembered a floor manager remarking on the presenter's unusual interaction with her.
Margaret revealed to the publication: "'Brad's never spoken to a contestant for as long as that,' a floor manager said. 'You're television gold!', another crew member added." She added: "Before we left, I was told I wouldn't be on air for a few months. 'Don't wait too long - I'm 92!' - I joked."
Representatives for ITV and Bradley have been approached for a comment. The Chase airs weekdays from 5pm on ITV and ITVX.
