James came agonizingly close to victory after an intense showdown against all five Chasers. But on the very last question, one of the show’s long-standing rules cost him the huge cash prize by the narrowest of margins.

BEAT The Chasers fans struggled to contain their emotions as an unlucky contestant missed out on £50k due to ‘cruel and brutal’ rule.

James was so close to pocketing the huge sum of money but failed to answer his final question in time.

On Monday’s show, hosted by Bradley Walsh, the brave quizzer had taken on all five of the Chasers but as usual the clock was ticking away as he fought to win the cash.

Things turned tense when Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan answered her final two questions incorrectly – before she was saved by Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett answering correctly in the final second.

The brainbox line-up also included Shaun Wallace, Darragh Ennis and Anne Hegerty.

All eyes were on James as he attempted to turn things around with only three seconds left on his clock.

But it wasn’t to be and the contestant was defeated.

“That was so cruel! Hard lines #BeatTheChasers,” said one shocked viewer on Twitter.

Another commented: “One second to go. What a game. #beatthechasers.”

A third said: “As Brad would say….. OUCH!!! #BeatTheChasers.”

While a fourth added: “Ouch, 1 second costing you £50k is brutal #BeatTheChasers.”

https://twitter.com/Mayce_Windu/status/1389311804602454019

Even Chaser Mark noted how unfair it was for James who was so close to winning.

He said at the end of the game: “It’s not often I say this but I feel really guilty because we won by a fraction of a second.

“So I say ‘chapeau’, sir, well played.”

The latest series of Beat the Chasers is without Paul Sinha, known as the Sinnerman.

He was unable to take part because he was too ill after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019.

But his co-star Anne recently revealed he will be back filming and is much “better”.

She said: “He wasn’t very well but he is a lot better now and he is looking forward to getting back to work. He was trying to get back to work as soon as possible and the specialists were just saying ‘no, you do need a couple of weeks off.

“It didn’t feel quite right without Paul, it doesn’t if any of us are missing, but we always intended to film with all six chasers and when one of us suddenly couldn’t, they rebuilt the set and we went ahead with just the five of us. It was a pity but he will be back for future series.”

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Beat the Chasers airs every night this week until Friday, 9pm on ITV.