The Chase: It ‘feels incredible’ to reach 15 years, says Bradley Walsh

If he were to go up against the Chasers – Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan and Darragh Ennis – who would attempt to prevent Walsh from winning a cash prize, he would probably approach the British television quiz show with more intention: remain calm, listen to the questions, and take minimal risks.

“It’s funny, because it’s not always the most knowledgeable contestants or best quizzers who win. You need to be calm, you need to make sure you properly listen to the question, and, when you don’t know the answer, make an early guess as that puts the pressure onto The Chaser to answer quickly as well, which can force mistakes – rarely, but it does happen. They all have their individual strengths and weaknesses, so sometimes luck can have an influence – as it does with what questions come up for contestants,” says Walsh, 64, who can remember he first time he got involved with The Chase and has since hosted it for the last 15 years.

“People who get overawed by being on set, facing the Chasers – who are looking down on them, physically on set – can crumble, so self-belief is key. Although it can go the other way and contestants who jump in too early with answers, don’t listen to the questions properly or sometimes take too big a risk on offers can come up short.”

As someone who was a multiple quiz show contestant before they ever got on The Chase, Ryan knows what it can be like.

“I know it is a big risk and a big deal to put yourself forward to be on a show. So, already, my hat is off to anybody who even applies to be on a quiz show, let alone gets as far as the studio,” says Ryan.

“I would say make sure that you build up your concentration to answer two minutes’ worth of questions at once. That two minutes in the final chase, it’s a long time to keep your focus – so get a bit of practice in, I’d say the same for any show that you want to go on.

“A lot of quizzing is about putting stuff into your brain. That’s what we do every single day. But the other, equally important part of being a great quizzer is recall and being able to extract the information as quickly as possible, and you can only do that by practising.

“So, practise at home, get your friends and family to test you, go to pub quizzes, watch lots of quiz shows and I think that’s the biggest advice I can give you is quiz every single day, you’ll be a better quizzer.”

The Chase is now available in 21 territories worldwide – making it a favourite people have continued to watch over the years – and has welcomed more than 9,000 contestants who have had tight finishes, big wins or heartbreaking near-misses on the game show to date.

“It’s unbelievable, really. It’s such a privilege and none of us – myself or the Chasers – take it for granted. Let’s face it, 15 years is a long time, and we’ve recorded thousands of episodes, so it just feels incredible and I’m so thankful that the public continues to tune in and watch,” says Walsh.

For Ryan, it feels amazing celebrating 15 years of The Chase. “I actually worked as a question writer when the pilot episode of The Chase went out; I can’t believe that’s 15 years ago now. I knew it was a great format at the time, but you never know in the wild world of TV what audiences are going to love and what they’re just not going to watch,” Ryan adds.

“I’m so glad that the great British public took The Chase to their hearts pretty much right away and it’s part of everybody’s daily routine now. It’s really exciting to have got to this milestone and let’s hope for another 15 years.”

There have been more than 2,200 daytime episodes of the hit show, where there have been some particularly funny moments on and off the camera, which have probably been one of the secrets behind the show’s success.

“It’s a combination of the chemistry Bradley has with both the contestants and the Chasers, and a format that means that the crucial moments can happen at any stage during the hour, and that if the contestants play well in the final chase, genuinely, anything can happen. Importantly, nobody takes themselves too seriously,” says Sinha.

“I do remember the Fanny Chmelar episode, because I felt so guilty at finally cracking up – I thought I was being unprofessional! As it happens, of course, it’s a moment people still remember 13 years later!” adds Hegerty.

“There’s something in pretty much every single recording that makes us fall about laughing and a lot of those moments don’t make it into the edited version that gets on TV. We get people who get our names wrong, or completely blank even on what they do for a living, and we have to go again with recording,” says Ryan.

“And then there are times when we’ve got great questions that have got funny answers. Obviously, we’ve got the Fanny Chmelar question, but sometimes there’s just daft things that if Brad gets set off laughing, that’s curtains for a good five minutes and we’re all falling about laughing. It’s such a joyful show to be part of, we always find the fun in everything. I know that the Chasers have to be serious at certain points in the show, but, honestly, it’s hard to put up that tough front because we’re having a lot of fun in reality.”

The Chase 15th anniversary special will be showing tonight on ITV 1.