Appearing on The Chase involves far more than most viewers might imagine. The ITV quiz programme airs on weekday evenings, featuring teams of four strangers battling against a brilliant quizzer known as the Chaser. Beat the Chaser, and your team shares the prize pot built up during the show.
While many tune in regularly, have you ever thought about applying to take part yourself? One contestant has taken to social media to reveal what the experience was really like, detailing the selection process, working alongside Bradley Walsh, and the filming schedule.
Savannah, 23, featured in an episode of The Chase broadcast at the end of January this year, though she’d actually recorded it nearly two years earlier in February 2024.
She revealed she was forbidden from telling anyone about her appearance until a fortnight before the episode went to air, meaning she’d kept the secret for almost two years. What’s more, she’d initially applied for the programme in 2022, and didn’t hear anything further about her application until 2023.
The Wolverhampton resident claimed the qualifying process for the show is tougher than most would anticipate, with prospective contestants required to complete two separate general knowledge quizzes.
Savannah and her team walked away with £13,000 after their stint on The Chase(Image: ITV)
She recalled: “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?'”
At the time, Savannah was making her way to work – and despite being offered the chance to reschedule, she decided to tackle the quiz there and then, standing beside a hectic main road.
Expecting that to be the last she’d hear, Savannah was surprised to receive another ring shortly before Christmas, during which she faced yet more general knowledge queries. This round, however, came without any indication of whether her answers were correct.
Come January 2024, she joined roughly 20 other hopefuls on a video conference with the show’s producers. They discussed how the programme operates and gave contestants the opportunity to raise any queries.
According to Savannah, producers revealed they receive approximately 75,000 applications annually for The Chase – little wonder it took more than 12 months for them to circle back to her.
On 1 February 2024, Savannah made her way to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood for the recording of her episode. She was provided with overnight accommodation and meal expenses the evening prior to filming.
Come 9am the following morning, cameras began rolling. Savannah and her fellow contestants were ushered into a green room, where production staff meticulously explained all the rules and provided printed copies for “legal purposes”. She then had her wardrobe sorted and makeup applied before being escorted onto the set to meet presenter Bradley Walsh ahead of recording.
According to Savannah, Bradley was “really nice” to her and the other participants, introducing himself before cameras started rolling. The actual filming process was “very stop and start”, with the team answering a single question before production paused momentarily ahead of the next one, making it far less fluid than it appears on television.
Her opponent was Mark Labbett, better known as The Beast, which proved daunting as Savannah regards him as the toughest Chaser to defeat. The contestant opted to stick with the £5,000 offer she’d accumulated during the cash builder round – and confidently made it back to join her teammates.
Reflecting on the Final Chase, she explained: “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’s team managed to answer 21 questions correctly during the Final Chase – and with several pushbacks, they defeated the Chaser by six points. This secured the £13,000 they’d accumulated, netting them £3,250 apiece.
