Mark Labbett hints he will quit The Chase after £100k defeat and storming off

He’s been one of the much-loved faces on The Chase since it first began on ITV1 back in 2009, but it looks like Mark Labbett, also known as The Beast, could be hinting at an exit from the show he became a household name on.

The 59-year-old has revealed he views the television gig as “part-time” and if he was to be offered a full-time job elsewhere, he would consider leaving the show.

He explained at the National Television Awards: “I take great pride in being, as I modestly put it, the best Chaser in the world… I love my job. At the same time – it’s a part-time gig. I won’t deny it if I’m lucky enough to get a good offer somewhere else for a full-time gig. But until that time, I’ll keep working.”

His honesty comes after he faced a brutal defeat on Beat The Chasers, which cost ITV £100,000 and led to him dramatically storming off stage. Mark decided to spice things up by offering contestant Gavin a chance to win a six-figure sum if he went up against the five Chasers in 40 seconds.

He expressed: “I disagree with my colleagues, I think they’ve been far too stingy. I’m gonna reduce the time to 40 seconds on our clock… and you’ll be playing for £100,000.

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A quietly confident Gavin decided to take up Mark’s offer and went up against him as well as Paul Sinha (The Sinnerman), Anne Hegerty (The Governess), Jenny Ryan (The Vixen) and Darragh Ennis (The Menace).

Despite making a few errors at first, Gavin quickly began answering his questions correctly and managed to scoop the huge cash prize. An embarrassed Mark quipped: “Firstly, well played Sir. Secondly, I’ll get my coat,” before leaving before the credits had even rolled.

The Vixen added: “There’s very little we can do. It doesn’t matter how many of us are up here when you were getting so many of yours right. When you missed the Addams Family one, I thought, ‘Oh, the wheels might come off here,’ but you got straight back on it.”

Mark has seen his stardom continue to rise after appearing on the latest series of Celebs Go Dating on E4. Arriving as a latecomer, he was quick to get on his dates with the help of the dating coaches, Paul C Brunson, Anna Williamson and Dr. Tara.

However, Mark’s brutal honesty got him in hot water with Paul as the pair faced off in a heated exchange at one of the agency’s brunches. He’d struck up a connection with beautician Deanne and were asked at the brunch what they thought of each other.

He admitted: “We thought we’d get on, it’s been great and we are just seeing how it goes. We have just been enjoying each other’s company and sometimes there’s a little bit of overthinking it. We’ve not been the master strategists that you are, but let’s face it, we’re smarter than you!”

Paul did not take kindly to the comments as he shot back: “Do you know why you always insult us? Because your emotional intelligence is on zero.”

Mark sarcastically responded: “Sorry, but I’m nice to the people that count!,” before Paul added: “When you get nervous, you insult people.”

The ITV star shot back: “No just you!.” Not taking it lying down, Paul raged: “What you did right there, that’s contempt. You wanna be a teacher? Try being a damn student first!”

Despite bumping heads, the two men managed to make amends the next episode when Mark arrived at the agency with his tail between his legs to apologise to the agents for how he reacted.

He ended his experience by bringing Deanne as his plus one to the agency’s glitzy bash, arriving arm in arm and looking like love’s young dream.