Paul Sinha was quick to spot an amusing coincidence during a recent episode of The Chase after noticing that three of the four contestants appeared to share names with members of The Beatles.
Four contestants — Margo, John, Paula and George — had arrived on the ITV quiz show hoping to prove their general knowledge against one of the programme’s formidable Chasers.
George was the first contestant to face Paul Sinha, better known as The Sinnerman, and got off to an impressive start by building a £8,000 prize during the Cash Builder.
But before the head-to-head got underway, Sinha noticed something rather unusual about the team.
“We’re the new Beatles”
Looking at the four contestants, Sinha said: “If you look at the team — Margo, John, Paula, George…”
George immediately understood where he was going with it.
“We’re the new Beatles,” he replied.
The observation prompted laughter from the rest of the team, while Sinha jokingly dubbed the episode a “The Beatles themed show”.
John clearly brought John Lennon to mind, Paula could stand in for Paul McCartney and George matched George Harrison.
That left Margo taking the place of Ringo Starr — admittedly, a rather loose connection.
The joke was not quite as obvious to host Bradley Walsh, however.
“What? That doesn’t make any sense at all,” Bradley responded, seemingly baffled by Sinha’s discovery.
Viewers spot the connection too
The unusual collection of names did not escape viewers at home either.
Social media users quickly joined in with the joke as the episode aired.
One viewer wrote: “We’ve got George John and Paula. Where’s the other Beatle.”
Another joked that the producers should have waited for a contestant named Ringo to complete the line-up.
It was another example of The Chase viewers finding unexpected connections between contestants before the quiz itself had even got into full swing.
It’s not the first unusual name combination
Fans have spotted similar coincidences on the show before.
Earlier in the year, viewers noticed a particularly “cheesy” connection when contestants named Gordon, Ola, Leslie and Dale appeared together.
The first two names — Gordon and Ola — sounded like “Gorgonzola”, while Leslie and Dale could be combined to resemble Wensleydale.
Another episode featured Tony, Steve, Thor and Natasha, prompting viewers to identify an apparent Avengers theme among the contestants’ names.
Even The Menace could not resist joining in with the joke.
There was also an episode featuring Alvin, Simone, Theo and Dave, which caught the attention of Shaun Wallace, The Dark Destroyer, who noticed the apparent Alvin and the Chipmunks connection.
George left to face The Sinnerman alone
Once the Beatles-themed amusement was over, the contestants returned to the serious business of trying to reach the Final Chase.
George took his £8,000 into the head-to-head after his strong Cash Builder performance and returned to the team after successfully progressing.
Paula was less fortunate.
She was eliminated after becoming involved in a one-question shoot-out.
John subsequently followed her out of the competition after being caught by The Chaser.
That left Margo and George with a chance to build the team for the Final Chase.
Margo then made a huge gamble, choosing to take the high offer of £82,000.
But the decision ultimately failed to pay off.
She was caught by The Sinnerman, leaving George as the only remaining contestant to face the Final Chase.
The Sinnerman catches George
George entered the Final Chase with a score of 14.
Despite his best efforts, however, it was not enough to hold off Sinha.
The Sinnerman caught him with 35 seconds still remaining on the clock, bringing George’s run to an end.
He therefore left the show empty-handed.
While the team failed to take home a cash prize, their unusual collection of names provided viewers with an entertaining moment — and gave Paul Sinha the perfect excuse to declare the episode an unlikely Beatles-themed edition of The Chase.
The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV1.