The Chase viewers were left furious after a dramatic £50,000 showdown appeared to come down to a possible clock malfunction, with fans insisting contestant Maggie should have won after the timer seemingly remained stuck on one second.
The tense head-to-head saw Maggie take on Anne Hegarty, better known to viewers as The Governess, in an episode that was actually a repeat of a programme originally broadcast four years earlier.
With £50,000 on the line, the final moments of the chase sparked an immediate backlash from viewers who believed Anne had been given extra time to answer.
The Chase viewers are convinced the clock got stuck at one second and gave Anne more time to answerCredit: ITV
Anne beats Maggie in dramatic final seconds
Anne needed to answer 18 questions to defeat Maggie and prevent her from taking the £50,000 prize.
As the clock ran down, host Bradley Walsh asked Anne one final question with just three seconds remaining:
“What type of animal is a chickadee?”
The timer appeared to reach one second as Anne answered: “Bird.”
Her answer was correct, allowing the Governess to complete the chase and eliminate Maggie from the competition.
But for many viewers watching at home, the timing did not look right.
They believed the clock had appeared to freeze at one second, potentially giving Anne additional time to respond to Walsh’s question.
Poor Maggie lost out on a £50,000 windfallCredit: ITV
Viewers accuse ‘The Chase’ of being fixed
The disputed moment quickly became a talking point on social media, with several viewers claiming Maggie had effectively been denied the chance to take home the £50,000.
One viewer wrote that Maggie “should have well won £50k” because the clock appeared to be stuck at one second.
Another simply declared: “That’s it the chase is fixed what a joke.”
A third viewer questioned whether the programme might be “a bit fixed now too.”
The reaction was particularly strong because the outcome hinged on such a narrow margin. Had Anne failed to provide the correct answer before the clock expired, Maggie would have secured the £50,000 prize.
ITV rejects claims of a stuck clock
Despite the complaints, ITV denied that the clock had malfunctioned or stopped.
A representative for the broadcaster told Mail Online that the result had been checked by adjudicators.
The broadcaster therefore stood by the outcome, despite the concerns raised by viewers over the final seconds of the contest.
For Maggie, the decision meant missing out on a £50,000 windfall. For viewers, meanwhile, the apparently frozen timer turned an already tense Chase finale into a debate over whether every second of the dramatic finish had been fairly counted.