The Chase fan reveals amazing reason Mark Labbett is called The Beast – explaining it’s a very clever joke

THE Chase star Mark Labbett has been known as 'The Beast for more than a decade now - but the nickname is not for the reason you might think.

A super-fan of the show has revealed that it's nothing to do with his size or imposing 6ft7in height - saying it's actually a very clever play on words.

In fact, it's because La Bête - which sounds exactly like 55-year-old Mark's surname - is 'The Beast' in French.

The amazing fact, worthy of one of the trickier rounds in any quiz, started circulating on Twitter last night.

Viewer Liam tweeted: "I have watched almost every episode of The Chase since it started airing in 2009.

"And I am only TODAY learning that Mark Labbett is called The Beast cos ‘la bête’ is french for ‘the beast’, not just because he is a portly gentleman."

Another fan, who had actually done battle with Mark on The Chase, added: "I was literally up against The Beast in 2010 and only learned this at a later date."

Another raved: "This genuinely thrills me."

In common with his fellow Chasers, who include Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan and Anne 'Governess' Hegerty, he was assigned the nickname when he joined.

Mark, who has appeared on Mastermind twice and even taken £32,000 on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, began on The Chase in 2009.

Former supply teacher Mark has travelled the world with the show, shooting versions for the US and Australia.