Mark Labbett is a fan favourite on The Chase - and not just in this country.
The quizzing genius, known as "The Beast" took to a role over the water in America as he appeared in the US version of the hit show. But he has been axed and revealed he was “gutted” after he was not invited back to be a Chaser on the series.
His exit from the US show caused a 40% drop in viewing figures as fans begged for him to return. However, The Beast has now said the call has come too late as he’s secured a job with another company, reported The Mirror.
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It has now been reported by quiz show website BuzzerBlog that The Chase US had an “alarming downward trend” for its third season. They shared: “It lost 33% of its demo (0.32%) and nearly 40% of its viewers (2.229M average). Hopefully the last half of season 3 does better.”
TV executive Jorge Andres Mondaca tweeted in response : “Bring back Mark Labbett”, prompting a debate over whether the UK Chaser’s departure caused the drop. Taking to Twitter, Mark replied with a smiley face emoji and said: “Too late I work for GSN now”.
GSN stands for Game Show Network and is a streaming service owned by Sony. The TV executive wrote in response: “Their loss, Mr. Beast :). Hope you are well Sir.”
The 56-year-old star confirmed to fans in March that a new line-up for the show had been selected and he would not be part of it. Mark shared his disappointment online, and when asked by a fan if he was not reappearing due to contact reasons, he said: “No they just didn't renew me. No reason was offered.”
He shared the news after The Chase's US account tweeted: “New season. New Chasers. Victoria Groce, Brandon Blackwell, and Buzzy Cohen join Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer on May 3 when #TheChase returns.”
Mark responded to the account, saying: “Gutted to not be invited back but really excited at the new lineup. Am expecting Brandon and Victoria to wow America :).”
Mark is an original Chaser on the UK’s programme version of The Chase, having been with the ITV show for 13 years since its initial launch in 2009.
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