A former contestant on The Chase has said she was "disappointed" by host Bradley Walsh when she appeared on the show in 2019. Kath from Cheshire, who competed alongside three other hopefuls against Paul Sinha, said the presenter was not how she expected him to be.
Only Kath and one other contestant made it through to the final chase. The pair managed 10 correct answers, giving Paul a greater advantage, and he subsequently won the round.
Contestant recalls 'raised voices' backstage
Kath has now spoken about her experience, saying she was both "excited and terrified" about taking part and admitted "a few things" surprised her. She was particularly looking forward to meeting the long-term host, but claimed he was not as she expected.
Kath said: "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."
She added: "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."
Kath claimed: "He appeared very occupied by something other than our team and we weren't expecting that."
No pre-show meeting with the Chaser
Kath also said she did not get to meet Paul, also known as The Sinnerman, beforehand, which made the 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 praised the production staff behind the scenes, in an exclusive chat with Mecca Bingo.
Behind-the-scenes treatment praised
"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 shared.
"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."
On meeting her fellow hopefuls, 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."
Separately last year, 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, she remembered a floor manager commenting on the host's unique interaction with her.
She shared with 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."
Margaret continued: "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 contacted for a comment. The Chase airs weekdays from 5pm on ITV and ITVX.
