The Chase contestant details 'truth' about Bradley Walsh 'stitching up' players

Edinburgh Live

07-07-2025

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A former player of ITV's The Chase has discussed claims that host Bradley Walsh is "stitching up" contestants using a nifty trick.
Back in 2009, The Chase burst onto our screens and quickly proved to be a game show like no other, with the ITV programme becoming a 5pm staple in many homes and continues to be until this very day.
The aim of the game is for a group of contestants to take on one of Bradley's superbrain experts, also known as the Chasers, in hope of winning a cash prize.
In order to secure a place in the final round and bag some serious cash, contestants must first establish themselves and their game in a cash builder round before meeting their Chaser for a head-to-head battle.
The Chaser will provide each player with three offers, with the higher monetary value warranting less of a chance against the quiz expert.
(Image: ITV)
ITV's synopsis details: "A quiz with a difference. Four contestants must pit their wits against the Chaser, a ruthless quiz genius determined to stop them winning the cash prize."
Players will come face-to-face with the likes of long-term Chasers Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty and Paul Sinha, as well as relatively newer stars Jenny Ryan and Darragh Ennis.
(Image: ITV)
The programme has broadcast a whopping 2,550 episodes across 18 series since it landed on ITV back in 2009. During its 16 year tenure, there have been a few raised eyebrows about Bradley questioning, with fans pointing out what they felt was a clear "unfair disadvantage" to players.
Over on Reddit, one person asked: "Why is Bradley allowed to read the questions so much more quickly for the chaser? It seems so unfair. It gives the chaser a big advantage."
(Image: ITV)
The Reddit user was surprised that an actual past contestant got in touch to air their own views, stating that in spite of how it may seem, it was all done "fair" behind the scenes.
In response to the initial question, the past player responded: "There's a whole host of questions that, if you're an experienced quizzer, you can guess before the question is completed. That is the main advantage that Chasers have."
They further stated: "I've been on the show. They are very diligent on fairness. They even have an independent adjudicator on set to watch that everything is fair."
"We had to reshoot part of our final chase after the adjudicator said an answer that Brad said was wrong, should have been accepted. We didn't challenge it, the adjudicator did. It was very clear to us that they wanted to be clear in how they did everything," explained the same contestant.
Another person shared the very same sentiment, reassuring fans everything was above board. They penned: "This doesn't happen. One of the biggest myths about the show.
"There are independent adjudicators to ensure the game is played as fairly as possible, otherwise they'd get in incredibly hot water with the regulator."
The Chase airs on ITV1, ITV Quiz and ITVX.