Beat the Chasers fans will have spotted a brand new face sitting alongside the UK chasers this week. Australian quizzer Issa Schultz had to step in for Anne Hegerty at short notice and he's told the whirlwind story of his mad rush to get over to the UK in time for filming.
'The Supernerd', who has been part of The Chase in Australia since 2015, joined Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning ahead of another new episode of Beat the Chasers airing on ITV. The 38-year-old has stepped in for The Governess after she tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of filming and was unable to take part.
Issa explained how he was "settling down for bed" when he got a call from a UK number at around 1am in Australia. He initially ignored the call but shortly after his Australian boss rang him telling him to pick up the call.
"My Australian boss rang me, again 1am, and said 'you need to take this call, and you need to take it right now. It was one of the executive producers Helen who said basically 'can you get on a plane that morning?', I think it was seven or eight hours later.
"I spent all night packing," He continued: "That's quite literally how it happened!". The quizzer, who was originally born in Cornwall before emigrating over to Australia, said he took three flights which took around 24 hours before he landed in the UK.
As soon as he arrived he was whisked away to the Beat the Chasers studio, telling Phil and Holly: "There was no time for sleep. We had to get the outfits worked out and straight into gameplay. On the first episode, Mark very kindly said 'if you're wondering why he's a bit quiet it's probably because he's feeling like a bit of a zombie right now'."
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV and ITV Hub. Beat the Chasers continues tonight from 9pm on ITV.
