The Chase viewers couldn’t contain their fury as they tuned into the latest episode of the hit ITV game show. Bradley Walsh welcomed four new contestants into the studio; Katherine, Rachel, Tom and Nick. The teammates were hoping to outsmart Anne Hegerty and add to the all-important prize pot. First to face Anne was Katherine, who secured £6,000 in the cash builder. Seeking advice on which offer to take, she turned to her teammates, where Nick urged her to take the lower offer. Katherine, 53, ignored the suggestion and followed Rachel and Tom’s advice, sticking with the middle offer.
Next up was Rachel, who impressed with seven correct answers. Though Nick encouraged her to go for the high offer, his stance quickly changed after she was knocked out, telling Tom to play it safe and go for the lower offer instead. “Well, you bullied me last time. I should’ve stuck to my principles. I’m flip-flopping. We need you back. Go low,” he said.
Tom also dismissed Nick’s advice and chose to play for the £8,000 he had earned in the cash builder. But his gamble didn’t pay off, as he was swiftly caught by Anne.
That left Katherine as the only remaining teammate when it came time for Nick to face The Governess.
Anticipating his decision, Katherine admitted she already knew what Nick would do, and gave him her blessing to take the low offer of £1,000, which he accepted.
Fans were outraged by the move as they flocked to social media to complain.
One wrote: “No, just no…. This has to be some sort of joke! Seat 4 has taken the MINUS £1K offer for £5K split between TWO Players!! You cannot make this up! Why on earth has The Chase fallen to this level of incompetence? ITV will lose viewers and money if this keeps happening!”
“What’s the point?” fumed a second as another posted: “Go low …you couldn’t go any lower if you tried.”
A fourth echoed: “Seriously… Why on earth are ITV casting contestants who don’t actually want to play for the money? This Low/Minus offer nonsense has gone too far!”
Another actually defended the decision, declaring: “Knew it. But to be fair given the circumstances it was a good choice. For some reason the players who got the best cashbuilders completely f****d up the chase itself.
Nick made it through to the final chase, meaning he and Katherine were playing for £2,500 each. But their hopes of beating the chaser were diminished when they ended on a mere score of 11. The Governess managed to catch their total with over a minute still left on the clock.