Bradley Walsh was left correcting a The Chase contestant after she admitted she had known the right answer but changed her mind at the last moment.
The tense moment came when Holly, 22, faced Mark “The Beast” Labbett in the head-to-head round of the ITV quiz show. After answering incorrectly, Holly revealed that she had originally planned to choose the correct option—prompting a typically blunt response from host Bradley Walsh.
The Chase: Bradley gives a warning to Holly (Image: ITV)
The Chase: Holly didn’t get off to a great start (Image: ITV)
Holly admits she ignored her first instinct
The episode brought four contestants together: Julian, 55, Jo, 45, Chris, 37, and Holly, 22, all hoping to build a substantial prize fund before taking on Labbett.
Wildlife tour guide Julian was first up and managed £3,000 in his Cash Builder before making it through to the Final Chase.
Finance assistant Jo followed with £4,000, adding to the team’s total and also securing her place in the final.
Chris then strengthened the team further by winning £7,000 in his Cash Builder and successfully getting past the Chaser.
That left Holly with the pressure of completing the team.
Unfortunately, the 22-year-old struggled from the outset, answering only two questions correctly in her Cash Builder. She chose to stick with the money she had earned before facing Labbett in her head-to-head.
The Chase: Mark warned Holly she couldn’t fluke the final (Image: ITV)
A Shakespeare question causes trouble
Holly got her opening question right, but her fortunes quickly changed when she was faced with a question about Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Bradley asked:
“In ‘Macbeth’, how do the witches refer to themselves?”
The correct answer was “Weird Sisters,” but Holly selected “Odd Women.”
After the answer was revealed, Holly admitted that she had actually been considering the correct option before changing her mind.
“I don’t know I haven’t read it,” she confessed. “I was going to study up on my Shakespeare but I didn’t.”
Bradley then asked whether “Weird Sisters” had originally been her instinct.
When Holly confirmed that it had, the host immediately stepped in.
“You can’t change that Holly,” Bradley told her. “You’ve got to stick with it.”
The exchange highlighted one of the most frustrating moments for any quiz contestant: knowing the answer, then abandoning it just before committing.
Holly survives by the narrowest of margins
Despite the mistake, Holly was not immediately eliminated.
With Mark Labbett only one question behind her, she managed to work her way through the head-to-head and reach the Final Chase alongside her teammates.
The four contestants eventually faced the Chaser with £16,000 at stake.
But their luck did not continue.
The team struggled during the Final Chase and passed on a number of questions, leaving them with a target of just 15 for Labbett to beat.
The Beast ultimately caught them, ending their hopes of taking home the £16,000 prize.
Bradley Walsh continues on The Chase
The episode was another example of the familiar tension that has made The Chase a long-running ITV favourite, with contestants having to balance instinct, knowledge and the pressure of making decisions against one of the show’s Chasers.
For Holly, the most memorable moment came before the Final Chase was even underway, when Bradley reminded her of one of the simplest rules of quiz-show strategy: sometimes your first answer really is the right one.
The Chase airs weekdays on ITV at 5pm.