Contestants who win prize money on The Chase are told not to share their winnings with fellow competitors who fail to make it back, a former winner has revealed.
Steven Sneade, who won a share of $17,000 after beating Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha, gave details of the contract successful contestants are asked to sign.
One person on his team walked away with nothing. But Snead, 69, said they were told to put sympathy aside.
“If you win you have to sign another contract as you’re accepting money from them,” the Liverpool resident said.
“They told us not to give money to the contestants who didn’t win money just because you feel sorry for them.”
Snead, who spoke to UK betting guide OLBG, added: “They can’t stop you, but I think they just don’t want you to have that in mind.”
He said he was told the winnings could take three months to arrive but he was actually paid within a week.
And Snead also revealed how long he had to keep quiet about winning after filming before the show aired.
“You have to promise you won’t tell anyone apart from your close family, so I had to keep it a secret for nine months,” the Liverpool Echo reported him saying. “I did, I gave my word I wouldn’t tell anyone, so I didn’t.”
His win first aired on TV in the UK in 2017.
Sinha is one of six Chasers currently on the show hosted by Bradley Walsh. The others are Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett, Shaun ‘the Dark Destroyer’ Wallace, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty, Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan and newbie Darragh ‘the Menace’ Ennis.
The programme has been running since 2009.
New Zealand is set to become the 22nd country with its own Chase format when Paul Henry hosts a series of shows – the broadcast date is yet to be announced.
The Chase UK is on TVNZ1 and TVNZ+ every day at 5pm.
Beat the Chasers – Wednesday July 23 at 7.30pm on TVNZ 1. Bradley Walsh with a new season of this Chase spin-off in which hopeful contestants face off against all the Chasers.
