As The Chase approaches its 16th year on air – and nearly 3,000 episodes in the can across all formats – thousands upon thousands of contestants have stepped up to appear and take on the ITV game show’s quizmasters.
But for those of that haven’t squared up to The Beast or The Governess, what what is appearing on The Chase really like?
In an ED! exclusive thanks to FruitySlots.com, Nicola Crawley – who appeared on the series in 2023 – has revealed all about what goes on behind the scenes when the cameras stop rolling, including why host Bradley Walsh’s behaviour away from filming really surprised her.
What it’s like to appear on The Chase
Nicola explained the process of getting to be on The Chase was a lengthy one.
“I applied through ITV’s website but it took six months for me to hear back,” she said. “I got invited to an assessment day in Birmingham where me and some other hopefuls had to play a mock game and answer questions to test our knowledge. The producers were looking for different characters and also abilities, I think,” Nicola reasoned.
We started filming at 10 am and were done by midday.
The day of filming began at 8am, after the contestants were picked up from their hotel. Nicola went on: “The producers took us to the green room and started asking us trial questions to get us used to the format. We were told to bring five outfits. And they inspected them to make sure no one clashed or was wearing anything with a logo or something offensive. We started filming at 10 am and were done by midday.”
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Being in The Chase studio and meeting Bradley Walsh
Nicola admitted to being surprised at how much the set looks like it does on TV. She also recalls how parky it was in there! She added: “I remember thinking it was cold until Bradley Walsh came out and then the heaters came on.”
Of Bradley’s entrance, she recalls how he didn’t look in the contestants’ direction at first – but soon made a beeline for the players.
“He placed his hand on the desk and said: ‘You’re the best pub quiz team in the land and I’m your fifth member. Let’s smash this,'” Nicola explained. “He also said: ‘Don’t call me Bradley, it’s not Sunday.’ He wanted us to call him Brad.”
He wanted us to call him Brad.
However, Nicole felt Bradley – or Brad – was “quite different” to how he is on TV. “He’s naturally very funny but between takes, he was just taking calls and drinking coffee. He was quite quiet,” she said.
Facing the Chasers
Nicola, who accrued £8,000 in her Cash Builder round, also described Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha – who she played against – as “lovely”.
“I was the second person to face him and the guy before me had taken a surprisingly low offer. So Paul ribbed him a little to lighten the mood,” she recalled.
Nicola went on: “He put us all at ease. Paul never made fun of us if we got a question wrong. He really surprised me because I wasn’t sure how he’d be when the cameras weren’t rolling. But he was consistently lovely.”
However, Nicola also shared advice she was given by production staff about other people who aren’t as lovely – trolls on social media.
“They advised us to stay off social media for a few days after our episode aired,” she said. “They warned us about trolls and how they can be quite personal. I did look online because I was curious and actually only saw positive comments.”
The Chase airs on ITV1 and ITVX on weekdays at 5pm.
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