I won thousands on The Chase – the casting process took THREE years and producers coached us on how to act

Scottish Sun

14 hours ago

Bosses encouraged the contestants to act a certain way on the programme
chasing a place I won thousands on The Chase – the casting process took THREE years and producers coached us on how to act
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A CONTESTANT on The Chase has revealed that it took him three whole years to complete the casting process for the quiz show.
Steven Sneade, 69, from Liverpool, was one of the contestants on the programme but getting to the TV studios was a lengthy and complicated process.
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Steven Sneade won against Paul Sinha on The Chase
Credit: OLBG/PressBox PR
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The show has seen a plethora of players over the years
Credit: ITV
He took part in the show in 2017 and faced-off against Chaser Paul Sinha back in 2017 and ended up walking away with £5,700.
As The Chase reaches its 16th year on air this month, Steven spoke to OLBG about his time on the programme.
In the interview, Steven said: 'It was three years from doing the online application to the show actually being broadcast. It was the very first programme I applied for.
"I applied online and heard back about a telephone interview very quickly, it was only a couple of weeks. It was very speedy.
"In the telephone interview they asked questions about my likes and dislikes, what I would do with my money, and various personal details. They asked if I watched the show.
"Then I had to answer 20 general knowledge questions, but they couldn't tell you how many you got right. At the end of the call they invited me to the in person audition."
Steven then went on to reveal how he had to face-off against 10 others in mock rounds of the show before undertaking a solo screen test.
He continued: 'There were a lot of people at the in-person interview, so we were broken up into groups of 10.
"We played a few little games to try and relax people, then we played a mock up of The Chase which went well.
"We also had to do a minute piece to camera, just introducing ourselves and saying a few bits - we had to make ourselves stand out. And there was another general knowledge test, where we had to answer another 20 questions."
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Steven went on to confirm that only two of the ten people in his group made it though to the next stage but it took a further TWO years for them to contact about moving forward with his application.
Steven said: 'After about two years I got a call and the production person they were thinking about casting me, but they asked if I had been on any other shows.
"I had been on Tipping Point, so they said they would be back in touch next year.
"They don't want people being on those two programmes so close together - apparently they get a lot of backlash for having the same people on different shows.'
After a further year had passed, Steven eventually managed to make it onto the show but admitted that show bosses gave the contestants tips on how to come across.
He revealed they were shown examples of good and bad contestants on-screen with producers encouraging then to be lively and outlandish during filming.
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The casting process took three years for Steven to get on the show
Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
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It was worthwhile as he triumphed over Paul
Credit: ITV
Steven said: 'They showed you a video of someone who wasn't a very good contestant, and then they showed you one of someone who was very lively - and they said they would rather we were lively.
"They gave us tips and tricks - like telling us they can edit bits out if we said something we shouldn't have."
Steven's time on the show proved lucky as he was able to walk away with one third of the £17,000 prize he won with two of his teammates.
He also received his winnings just a week after filming despite being warned that it could take up to three months.
Steven confirmed: 'If you win you have to sign another contract as you're accepting money from them.
"They told us not to give money to the contestants who didn't win money just because you feel sorry for them. They can't stop you, but I think they just don't want you to have that in mind.
"They said [the money] could take three months, but I had it in a week.'