Bradley Walsh is usually the one firing questions at contestants on ITV’s The Chase — but on one memorable appearance on This Morning, the tables were turned.
The quiz show host found himself in the contestant’s seat for the first time as Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield challenged him to take on their very own version of The Chase.
Bradley was appearing on the daytime programme to promote his second album, When You’re Smiling, following the success of his debut record, which had remarkably outsold Zayn Malik.
But instead of simply chatting about his music career, the presenters decided to put his famous quiz skills to the test.
Bradley Faces a Dickens-Themed Challenge
There was one obvious subject for the challenge: Charles Dickens.
Bradley, then 57, was known to be a huge fan of the celebrated English author, so This Morning prepared a series of questions based on Dickens and his classic novels.
The rules were simple. Every correct answer meant Bradley would get to hear more of his music, while every wrong answer would bring another television personality-turned-singer into the mix.
Among the potential rivals were Alexander Armstrong and Jason Manford.
Bradley was less than impressed by the prospect.
“You can’t do that, you can’t – that’s really put me off,” he protested.
Phillip Schofield jokingly reassured him: “Well, don’t get them wrong!”
The Chase Host Proves He Can Play, Too
Despite the pressure, Bradley immediately showed why he is so comfortable on the other side of the questions.
His first challenge asked for the title of Charles Dickens’ first novel. Bradley correctly answered The Pickwick Papers and continued to make light work of the questions that followed.
He eventually answered four of the five questions correctly.
In fact, Bradley became so confident that he deliberately gave one answer incorrectly.
Asked which revolution plays a major role in A Tale of Two Cities, he failed to identify the French Revolution. Rather than being genuinely stumped, however, Bradley wanted to discover which celebrity opponent would be brought into the game.
The answer turned out to be Welsh singer and television presenter Aled Jones.
Bradley Walsh’s Unusual Music Plans
The quiz came during an interview that also focused heavily on Bradley’s music career.
At the time, the Chase presenter joked that his upcoming second album could include grime collaborations with stars such as Stormzy and Wiley.
The finished record, however, went in a very different direction. When You’re Smiling featured covers associated with legendary performers including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett.
Bradley was also preparing for another major television role, with an appearance alongside Jodie Whittaker in the upcoming series of Doctor Who.
Meanwhile, away from This Morning, his fellow Chase star Mark “The Beast” Labbett was also addressing accusations that the ITV quiz show could be fixed.
Labbett rejected the claims, arguing that the programme had numerous safety procedures in place. He also joked that if the show were secretly manipulating its results, viewers would surely be seeing five better-looking actors in place of the familiar Chasers.
For once, though, it was Bradley Walsh who had to face the questions — and his performance suggested that the man who normally asks them knows exactly how to play the game himself.