Mark "The Beast" Labbett may spend his working life surrounded by trivia, but he still loves a pub quiz. The Chase star has one strict rule he follows every time he attends his local boozer trivia night: he is not allowed to win.
While the professional quizzer might seem like the perfect teammate, he can actually be a nightmare, he told the Daily Star. If he is sitting at your table, there is no chance of scooping the top prize.
A strict rule for pub quizzes
"Whenever I go in a pub quiz, rule number one: I am not allowed to win. Rule number two: if I join a team, they're not allowed to win either," Labbett said.
Labbett, who has also won the ultra-hard quiz show Only Connect and is ranked 89th in the world for trivia, explained that playing for fun is what keeps it enjoyable. "I'm not allowed to win… I play for fun. It's like my version of a net in cricket, I'm playing to learn," he said.
Ten hours of revision a day
The 60-year-old said that preparing for The Chase can mean as many as 10 hours of quiz revision a day, but much of it feels like leisure. He spends his time catching up on movies, TV shows and football.
"Work can be sitting on the couch watching a Marvel film. Work can be me watching God knows how many games of football. Whatever the biggest new TV shows are, that's work. I need to know what are the big shows of the summer," he said.
Always learning on the road
Labbett also uses his time driving to pick up knowledge, noting motorway signs to brush up on local geography. "I'm always learning. So when I'm driving, I'm making a note of what the motorways are, you're always doing a little bit of learning," he revealed.
Despite joking that he tells his bosses he does 10 hours a day, he admitted it is more like one. "If I'm telling the bosses, I do about 10 hours a day. If I'm being honest, it's more like about one," he said.
