Shaun Wallace is usually one of the most intimidating figures on The Chase, but during a celebrity edition featuring Coronation Street stars, even the Dark Destroyer appeared to be struggling.
Viewers watched in disbelief as Wallace struggled with a series of questions while facing Victoria Ekanoye, prompting host Bradley Walsh to jokingly welcome the veteran Chaser “to the game” after he finally managed to find an answer.
The unusual sequence became one of the most talked-about moments of the episode, with the studio audience eventually giving Wallace a standing ovation when his fortunes finally appeared to turn around.
Shaun Wallace gets standing ovation in strange The Chase moment ‘What is going on?’ (Image: ITV)
The Chase: Victoria easily got through to the Final Chase (Image: ITV)
Shaun Wallace struggles against Victoria Ekanoye
The ITV celebrity special brought together four Coronation Street stars—Simon Gregson, Lucy Fallon, Andy Whyment and Victoria Ekanoye—as they attempted to build a prize fund for their chosen charities.
Simon was first to face Wallace and managed to bring money back to the team. However, the Dark Destroyer ultimately caught him, leaving Wallace to take on the remaining contestants.
Victoria was next, bringing £4,000 to the table following her cash-builder round.
But when the head-to-head began, Wallace was surprisingly slow to find the answers.
The Chase: The trio were narrowly missed out on a win (Image: ITV)
The Chase: Shaun caught the players with eight seconds remaining (Image: ITV)
The Chaser failed to answer several of the opening questions correctly, leaving viewers and those in the studio visibly puzzled as the usually formidable quizzer struggled to get going.
Bradley Walsh could not resist commenting on the unusual performance.
“Finally!” the host exclaimed when Wallace eventually got an answer right.
“Welcome to the game, Shaun,” Walsh added, turning the moment into a light-hearted exchange between the presenter and the Chaser.
The audience gives Shaun a standing ovation
Wallace eventually managed to regain some momentum, and his improvement was met with an unexpected reaction from the studio audience.
The crowd stood and applauded the Chaser, creating an unusual moment for someone who normally spends the show trying to prevent contestants from reaching the Final Chase.
The strange turnaround quickly caught the attention of viewers watching at home.
One fan joked: “Welcome to the game, Shaun.”
Another admitted: “I’m starting to feel sorry for Shaun.”
A third simply asked: “What is going on?”
Another viewer joked that the “Dark Destroyer is losing it,” while one fan watching Victoria’s appearance suggested Wallace may have been distracted by her.
Victoria makes it through to the Final Chase
Despite Wallace’s difficult start, he eventually stopped Victoria from progressing any further in the head-to-head.
Victoria nevertheless made it through to the Final Chase, where she was joined by Lucy Fallon and Andy Whyment.
Lucy had built £6,000 during her cash-builder round, giving the team another opportunity to put together a substantial prize fund for charity.
The trio then faced the Chaser in the final quick-fire round.
Shaun catches the team with eight seconds left
The contestants managed to establish a lead of 15 steps during the Final Chase and appeared to have a chance of escaping with their charity winnings.
But Wallace once again demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the show’s toughest Chasers.
He steadily closed the gap and eventually caught the team with just eight seconds remaining on the clock.
The dramatic finish meant the celebrity contestants were unable to take the prize money back to their chosen charities and ultimately left empty-handed.
For viewers, however, the result was almost secondary to the bizarre sequence earlier in the episode, when one of The Chase’s most feared quiz experts struggled so badly that the audience ended up giving him a standing ovation.
The Chase airs weekdays from 5pm on ITV.