The Chase star Mark Labbett was left with nowhere to go after a strong team performance put him under intense pressure in the final chase.
The Beast faced four new contestants — Chris, Sonia, Clementine and Mark — during Tuesday’s edition of the ITV quiz show, but despite initially making good progress, he eventually ran out of time.
History teacher Chris was first up and answered six questions correctly in his cash builder, giving him £6,000 to defend.
The 43-year-old was offered a tempting £40,000, but chose to stick with his original total.
It proved to be a difficult decision as Labbett steadily closed the gap and eventually caught Chris, sending him out of the competition.
Mark Labbett admitted defeat (Image: ITV)
Sonia takes the low offer
Next came 64-year-old office manager Sonia, who managed just two correct answers in her cash builder.
With only £2,000 at stake, the Beast offered her a lower £1,000 option, which she accepted.
Sonia successfully made it through to the final chase, becoming the first member of the team to secure a place there.
She was then joined by Clementine, a 20-year-old undergraduate who impressed with her knowledge by earning £5,000 in her cash builder.
Clementine turned down both the higher and lower offers and decided to stick with the £5,000 she had earned.
Her decision paid off as she successfully escaped Labbett and reached the final.
The team walked home with more than £3,000 each (Image: ITV)
Mark completes the team
The final contestant, 58-year-old Mark, knew the team needed him if they were going to give themselves a realistic chance of beating The Beast.
He earned £4,000 in his cash builder and also rejected the higher offer, choosing instead to play it safe and bring the money back to the team.
Mark succeeded, meaning all three remaining contestants faced Labbett in the final chase.
The team built an impressive target of 17 correct answers.
Bradley Walsh suggested they might still be a few answers short of what they needed to defeat The Beast, but Labbett soon found himself under pressure.
The Beast runs out of time
Labbett initially made strong progress, but a series of successful pushbacks from the contestants began eating into his time.
With just eight seconds remaining, The Beast still needed to answer three more questions correctly to catch the team.
The situation looked increasingly hopeless.
Then, with only two seconds left on the clock, Labbett finally conceded defeat.
As the final claxon sounded, he admitted:
“Oh my word. I am done here, so well played guys.”
The contestants had held on to their £10,000 prize.
Labbett’s unexpected admission prompted plenty of reaction from viewers, although the dramatic moment was rather less final than some headlines suggested — The Beast was simply acknowledging that this particular chase was over, rather than announcing his departure from The Chase.
For the contestants, however, the result meant a hard-fought victory and a £10,000 prize to take home.