Bradley Walsh once again proved that he can turn even the most unexpected moment into comedy, leaving The Chase viewers laughing during Friday’s episode.
The ITV quiz show host was presenting a new group of contestants as they attempted to outsmart one of the programme’s formidable Chasers, Shaun Wallace, better known as The Dark Destroyer.
Lloyd from Hertfordshire, Cate from Middlesbrough, Alison from Beccles and Hashim from Stockport took on the challenge, hoping to build enough money to secure a major team prize.
Bradley clearly found it funny too(Image: ITV)
One contestant’s journey takes a turn
Lloyd was first to face the Chaser and managed to make it back to the team with £4,000 after accepting the middle offer.
Cate followed, but her round ended differently. She was caught by Shaun and left the competition without adding anything to the team’s prize fund.
Then came Alison’s turn—and it was a question during her round that gave Bradley the perfect opening for one of his trademark jokes.
Alison was asked which doctor had been offered $50,000 for a pair of surgical gloves in 1967.
Shaun explained that the gloves belonged to Dr Chris Barnard, who performed the world’s first heart transplant in Cape Town that year.
That was when Bradley decided to put his own spin on the subject.
Bradley’s “cracking” punchline
Discussing the history of transplantation, Bradley joked that Dr Barnard later became involved in attempts involving animal organs and even mentioned a pig’s ear being transplanted onto a human ear.
He then delivered the punchline:
“And a pig’s ear onto a human ear. It worked great, the only problem was they said to the bloke ‘can you hear?’ and he said ‘just a bit of crackling’.”
Bradley immediately burst into laughter at his own joke, while Shaun Wallace appeared considerably less impressed.
Viewers at home, however, seemed to be firmly on Bradley’s side.
Viewers react on social media
Several The Chase fans took to X to admit that the joke had caught them off guard.
One viewer, @elvismush, simply wrote: “I did laugh at that joke.”
Ange also enjoyed the pun, posting: “Got to admit it did ‘crack’ me up that one.”
Another viewer, @Astriodman, described it as “a cracking joke Bradley”, while Katie admitted: “I’m sorry to say I did chuckle at that.”
It was a brief moment in an otherwise tense episode, but Bradley’s perfectly timed joke gave viewers something to laugh about as the contestants continued their battle against The Dark Destroyer.
The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV and ITVX.