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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
James Rodger & Kate Lally

ITV The Chase star Mark Labbett shares four types of people picked for show

ITV The Chase star Mark Labbett has shared the formula behind the smash hit quiz show.

The popular programme sees four members of the public team up against some of Britain's biggest brains in a bid to take home some serious cash. The players have never met before but become bonded by their common goal.

Mark, aka The Beast, said there are four types of contestants targeted by producers. Speaking at the Oxford University Union, he said: "On The Chase at least half the time the running order does (in order of contestant appearance) - the quiet decent one, the strong one, the pretty one of either sex, and the nutter.

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"And it is quite deliberate. They want the person with the biggest personality to be in the game the longest. You might think that is incredibly cynical and sexist but it is TV."

Mark also shared a secret behind celeb editions, according to Birmingham Live. Mark said: "The celebs are not as good as they think they are. We give every celeb a piece of A4 and it is more or less saying 'Tell us what you know?'

"And it is only fair as if we beat them every time it would be a terrible show." Mark said: "We have a simple test for being a Chaser and that is to get 20 questions right in two minutes and if you do that you are probably not going to cost to much money.

"We wanted a lady and she is on telly a bit and when we asked her the questions she was answering about 16 or 17 and we wanted her desperately on the show but the producers went 'she will cost us too much money'".

The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV and the ITV Hub

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