Every hopeful on The Chase dreams of grabbing a substantial prize pot, but as is often the case, not everyone strikes gold. Presented by Bradley Walsh since 2009, the ITV show pits four contenders against one of the nation’s top quiz brains in an attempt to win cash prizes.
Should they get to the final chase, the survivors need to fire off as many correct answers as possible within two minutes and hope the chaser can’t catch up with their total. But what becomes of those who don’t get that far?
On a regular basis at least one participant misses out on the final chase for being outsmarted by the chaser.
In a cruel twist, those booted out have no choice but to watch from the sidelines, which could mean seeing the others pocketing big prize money.
This inside scoop was shared by a previous contestant on Reddit when quizzed about whether those eliminated can stay to watch the rest of the competition unfold.
A curious user asked: “When you’ve been caught in the head-to-head part, does the show allow you to stick around so you can see your fellow team performing the final chase?”
The former contender revealed: “Yeah, you go sit with the crew and watch from the sidelines.”
Highlighting the sting of such an experience, a poster remarked: “Tbh if I was the only one knocked out, I’d be pretty upset if the other three won big.”
Yet another Reddit user reckoned that the presence of eliminated players in the studio might be necessary for something called a Lazarus Team.
The scenario describes a situation in which all four contestants are eliminated during the head-to-head round, but one is reinstated to face the chaser alone in the final chase, as teammates look on.
Should the lone player come out victorious, each member of the team is awarded £1,000.
A former contestant revealed that in such an event, producers could easily bring them back, noting: “I mean arguably they could just fetch us back from the green room if that were to happen but no, I was sat over by the adjudicator sort of off to the right of where the chaser sits.”
The contestant, who previously faced chaser Shaun Wallace, also disclosed: “Another bit of info, there’s no audience. All the laughter etc is added in post production. They only have an audience for the celeb version. The music does play in the studio though.”
Watch The Chase weeknights at 5pm on ITV1.
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