A woman who once appeared on an episode of ITV’s The Chase has explained what it’s like to take part – including the rigorous interview process she had to go through
It takes more to appear onĀ The ChaseĀ than you might think. TheĀ ITVĀ quiz show graces our televisions every weekday, and sees teams of four strangers take on a super-smartĀ quizzerĀ known as the Chaser. Manage to take down the Chaser, and your team wins a share of the total prize money accumulated throughout the show.
Many of us watch the show every week, but have you ever considered signing up to take part? One woman who did sign up for the show has spoken onĀ social mediaĀ about what it was like, including how she was picked, what it was like working withĀ Bradley Walsh, and how the show is filmed.
Savannah, 23, appeared on an episode of The Chase, which aired at the end of January this year, although she actually filmed the episode almost two years ago in February 2024.
She said she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone she had been on the show until two weeks before her episode was due to air, so she has been keeping it a secret for almost two years. And what’s more, she actually applied for the show in 2022, and wasn’t approached with any further details about her application until 2023.
The Wolverhampton woman claimed the process to qualify for being on the show is more brutal than you might expect, with potential contestants having to answer two separate general knowledge quizzes.
@savandwich part 2 up now šāāļø this is just what happened for me canāt say this is what they do for everyone š #thechase #bradleywalsh #itv #gameshow #quiz ā¬ original sound – Savannah
She explained: “I had totally forgotten about it until the end of 2023 when I received a call out of the blue from someone who said, ‘Hey, I’m a production assistant for The Chase, and we were wondering if you’d still be interested’. I said yes, and they said, ‘Can we ask you 40 general knowledge questions?'”
Savannah was walking to work at the time of the call ā and although the production assistant offered to call back and do the questions later, she opted to take the quiz while outside next to a busy road.
While she thought that would be the end of it, Savannah got another call just before Christmas, in which she had to answer even more general knowledge questions. This time, it was without the production assistant telling her if she was right or wrong.
In January of 2024, she and around 20 other people were put on a video call with producers. They spoke about how the show works and allowed the contestants to ask any questions.
Savannah claimed producers told her they get around 75,000 applications a year for The Chase – so it’s no wonder it took them over a year to get back to her!
On February 1, 2024, Savannah headed to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood to film her episode. She was given a hotel room and expenses for a meal the night before the shoot. Then at 9am, it was time to start filming.
Savannah and her teammates were taken to a green room, where staff went through all the rules and gave them printed versions for “legal purposes”. She then had her wardrobe and makeup taken care of ā and was then whisked out onto the set to meet host Bradley Walsh before filming.
Savannah said Bradley was “really nice” to her and the other contestants and introduced himself before filming began. Filming itself was “very stop and start”, meaning that they would answer one question, then filming would stop for a few moments before the next question, so it isn’t as seamless as it seems on TV.
She had Mark Labbett, also known as The Beast, as her Chaser. This was intimidating because Savannah considers him to be the hardest to beat.
The quizzer decided to take the Ā£5,000 offer which was what she had earned in the cash builder round ā and comfortably made it back to the rest of her team.
Discussing the Final Chase, she said: “We were so lucky. We had someone on our team who was such a machine, and he was totally locked in. We did really well on the Final Chase, thanks to him especially. I would like to say you can see me try to buzz in on more questions than the one that I did get, but I just wasn’t fast enough on the buzzer.”
Savannah and her co-stars managed to get 21 questions right on the Final Chase ā and with a couple of pushbacks, they ended up beating the Chaser by six points. This meant they bagged Ā£13,000 they had banked, taking home Ā£3,250 each.
The ITV contestant said: “One of the reasons I love being on TV is because everyone is really nice. The wardrobe people are kind, the hair and makeup [people], all the casting assistants, production assistants, and producers. Everyone is really friendly. They want to make sure that you have a good day and that you have a really nice time.
“So if you’re debating about whether to apply for a game show or a quiz show, or any opportunity that involves going on television, the chances are people are going to be really nice and friendly. It will probably be a good experience.”