‘I was axed from ITV’s The Chase over little known show rule’

A player from The Chase was banned from the show before his episode aired on ITV

The Chase player was axed (Image: ITV)

A player from The Chase has shared that he was axed from the popular ITV quiz show before even finishing the episode due to a very strict rule from show bosses. Contestant James Belshaw has been on a string of the UK’s favourite gameshows, but his episode of the Bradley Walsh hosted show didn’t make it to air.

Surrey-based bus driver James Belshaw, 46, has been applying for TV shows since 2010, and has appeared on over a dozen of the UK’s favourite gameshows, including Pointless, Weakest Link, Tipping Point and Lingo. Speaking in a new interview with Spin Genie, the player explained: “I was cast on The Chase. I had a filming day but they phoned me up and said, ‘James, were you on Pointless?’

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Bradley Walsh hosts The Chase on ITV (Image: ITV)

“And I hadn’t put it on my form. I said, ‘Is that the one where the really tall man sits down?’ I don’t know what’s the big rivalry, but I was gone because of that.” He added: “The ironic thing about that, is that I was at Elstree, I didn’t go but they binned me off, they must have got a reserve contestant.

“The same week at Elstree, my wife and I filmed a show called Letterbox, a Mel Giedroyc quiz show, they cancelled it after a couple of seasons, but there’s no way I would have got away with it anyway because it’s the same make-up people and that sort of thing. I would’ve been panicking that I’d be rumbled!”

James also revealed his tactic of applying for new shows and shared why it is likely why he has been so successful in getting on TV.