Chasing The Perfect Storm

Chasing The Perfect Storm

When people find out I am one of the biggest winners ever on one of THE most popular TV quiz shows, ITV’s The Chase, they are soon firing their own set of questions at me – especially when they are told that my opponent was The Beast, Mark Labbett. I think it’s his sheer presence that makes him the most feared because actually he is not necessarily the toughest Chaser to beat.

Most people assume that you have to be a really good quizzer to win big on this show but this is simply not the case. As much as I enjoy quizzing, I don’t actually participate in any – I mostly just enjoy watching them on TV.

No, there is only one way to win big on this show and that is for there to be a ‘perfect storm’ creating all the right circumstances. The Recipe for Chase Success is attached and contains all of the elements needed to bring this about.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the show and so in 2015, I decided to apply to be a contestant, not actually sure if it was something that was even remotely possible. However, after passing the initial telephone interview, I was invited to the next stage audition, in Glasgow. It was great fun and I was told that I would probably be chosen to take part but not to hold my breath because it could be another couple of years before I heard anything. And it was.

In January 2017 I found myself travelling down to London by train and before long, sitting in the actual studio, waiting to see who our Chaser was going to be.

I had briefly met my three other fellow contestants – a middle-aged man, a young man and a young girl. Pretty good mix really. We didn’t have long to chat but I wanted them to understand before we started that I was out of a job, completely broke and any win would be better than ‘no win’ so not to expect any heroics from me. They all felt exactly the same.

I was placed in seat 4 which meant I was the last one to play so after watching the two men get back with £5,000 each, it was looking good. But luck was not on seat 3’s side and The Beast sent her packing...it was horrible to watch her walk off and it certainly ramped up my already increasing nerves.

In fact by the time I was standing before Bradley, I could barely remember my name so it was actually no surprise to me when I only achieved £3,000 in the cash builder. It wasn’t looking too good now....

I approached the table and in walked The Beast – looking as cocky and confident as ever. I’m sure he thought they’d left the worst till last and he’d soon be back in the Green Room celebrating another victory.

He puts the offers on the table and goads me by saying, “Show the boys how it’s done! I’ll offer you what I gave them both together, £65,000!”

I found myself saying what 90% of players say in this situation, “I’m sooooo tempted...”

And then I found myself saying what 90% of players DON’T say in this situation...”I’m going to go for the £65,000..”

The look on Bradley’s face was a picture, The Beast could hardly believe what he’d just heard and my two team mates looked utterly stunned. I knew this was going to be a David and Goliath moment but I had been so disappointed with my cash builder that I felt I had just had to redeem myself. Approximately eight minutes later, after a monumental battle, I was well and truly redeemed and I returned to my seat to prepare to battle for £75,000.

And the final ingredient for the ‘perfect storm’ played out. We managed 17 points in the final and The Chaser was keen to remind us that he won 80% of the time against this score. Needless to say, we weren’t exactly hopeful at this point.

However, several successful pushbacks later we had achieved the seemingly impossible. We’d fought The Beast and won!

The win meant so much to the three of us – the young man had a huge student debt to repay, the older man was a stay-at-home dad and as for me, I didn’t have to worry about paying my rent for a while.

The ‘perfect storm’ had created a perfect result and if I can win big on a TV show, anyone can. But don’t forget, the most important thing that contributed on the day, was me having the nerve to ‘go for it’ even when the odds were stacked against me.

RECIPE FOR CHASE SUCCESS

INGREDIENTS

ONE BRILLANT MOTLEYBEHINDTHESCENESPRODUCTIONANDCAMERACREW

ONE BRILLIANT FUNNYBRADLEYWALSHHOST

4 CONTESTANTS OF MIXED QUIZZING ABILITY

1 CHASER IN REALLY POOR FORM

VITAL AND SECRET INGREDIENT

AT LEAST ONE CONTESTANT WITH ‘BALLS’

METHOD

POUR ABOVE INGREDIENTS INTO PREPARED STUDIO AT TEMP 65 degrees FOR APPROX 3 HOURS

MIX WITH A BIT OF BANTER

SPRINKLE WITH A FEW NERVES (too many could completely spoil the result)

MAKE SURE THE VITAL AND SECRET INGREDIENT MAKES IT BACK FOR THE FINAL GRILLING WITH THEIR MASSIVE CONTRIBUTION

MAKE SURE AT LEAST TWO OTHER CONTESTANTS OUTRUN THE CHASER AND MAKE IT BACK FOR THE FINAL GRILLING

ADD A BATCH OF EASY FINAL CONTESTANT QUESTIONS

STIR IN SOME REALLY DIFFICULT FINAL CHASER QUESTIONS

BEAT IN SOME SUCCESSFUL PUSHBACKS, AT REGULAR INTERVALS

BRING CHASER TO BOILING POINT THEN LEAVE TO SIMMER FOR A FEW SECONDS

WHEN COOL SERVE THE CHASER UP WITH A GREAT BIG SLICE OF HUMBLE PIE

SHARE THE OTHER PRIZE-WINNING PIE AMONGST THE REMAINING AMAZING PRIZE-WINNING CONTESTANTS AND DIGEST SLOWLY OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS (YEARS EVEN!)