The Chase’s Mark Labbett reveals ‘unexpected tyrant’ on Beat The Chasers – and the distraction he’s most worried about
THE Chase star Mark 'The Beast' Labbett opened up about the 'tyrant' that can make it hard to compete on the show.
The 55-year-old quizzer appeared on the return of The Chase spin-off, Beat the Chasers and gave same sage advice about how to do well.
Beat the Chasers sees contestants go up against anywhere between two to five of the Chasers in a race against time.
The more Chasers they go up against, the more money a contestant can win, but less time as the clock cuts the time they have to answer.
In the first series of Beat the Chasers, the professional quizmasters lost out after running out of time.
But they've learnt their lesson with Mark admitting, "we’ve learnt not to look at the clock.”
“If you look at the clock you’re distracted, you’re not really concentrating. That clock is an absolute tyrant,” he added.
The Beast also had nothing but praise for his fellow Chasers, Paul 'The Sinnerman' Sinha, 50, Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan, 38, Anne 'The Governess' Hegerty, 62, and Shaun 'The Dark Destroyer' Wallace, 60.
“This is the best team we’ll ever play on," he said.
“Most of us are used to being the top player on the team we’re on. Here, if we don’t know there’s every chance one of our colleagues does.
“If you don’t know, let somebody else make the guess. We really have thought about how to maximise our accuracy to minimise the chance of us making mistakes.”
Mark added: “Obviously, if you know the answer, hit the button.
“But it’s what to do if you sort of know. Generally, the rule is we try and leave it to the person whose speciality it is to confirm it.
“That’s the art form of guessing/knowing and who/when should hit the buzzer. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong.
“For us, the cardinal sin in this situation is to buzz in and then think of the answer. While you’re having a nice long think, your teammates know the answer.”
Mark proved his impatience on that final point with Shaun on the most recent episode.
He fumed at his co-star for "taking too long" on an easy question.
Mark was visibly furious in the awkward spat - despite the Chasers still winning against the contestant.
It all kicked off when all five Chasers took on Claire, with host Bradley Walsh asking which author created the Oompa Loompas - characters in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Shaun, 60, buzzed to answer but took a few seconds to speak, eventually giving the correct name of Roald Dahl.
The Chasers won despite Shaun's blip, but Mark was unable to forgive how long he took.
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Shaun apologised after the time was up, with Mark responding: "You can't do that, Shaun."
Bradley then asked what happened, with Shaun explaining: "I don't know, I'd rather take some time and get it right…"
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But Mark interrupted, shouting across the other Chasers: "Absolutely not!
"It's not your time to waste, that's a terrible sin."