Mark Labbett
Born
Mark Labbett

(1965-08-15) 15 August 1965 (age 58)
Tiverton, Devon, England[1]
OccupationTelevision personality
Notable credit(s)The Chase (2009—)
The Chase USA (2013–2015)
The Chase Australia (2016—)
Height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
SpouseKatie Labbett (m. 2014)
Websitemarklabbett.co.uk

Mark Labbett (born 15 August 1965) is a British television personality and "Chaser" on the ITV game show The Chase in the United Kingdom as the tallest Chaser at 6'6" tall. He took up this role in 2009 and has since appeared on the American version as their sole Chaser in 2013 and as one of five Chasers on the Australian version since 2016.[3] He has also appeared in several television quiz shows and is a regular in quizzing competitions.

Early life

Mark Labbett was born in Tiverton, Devon, to Carolyn and Jon Labbett.[4] He has two younger brothers, Paul and Philip.[5][6]

Labbett obtained a Master of Arts degree in mathematics from Exeter College, Oxford, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in secondary education from the University of Exeter and legal CPE and LPC qualifications from the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales).[7]

Career

Teaching

Labbett taught in secondary schools, including Cove School in Farnborough, where he worked as a supply teacher in maths and physical education.[8]

Quizzing

Labbett became interested in quizzing when working at Butlins holiday camp, where he supplemented his income with winnings from the quiz machines.[9] His pub quiz team won a weekend in Paris in April 2001 after competing in the national competition, Jumbo Quiz.[10]

He works as a question writer for Redtooth, a quiz company from Barlborough near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. After two years of part-time work as a promoter for them, he moved to South Yorkshire in 2013 in order to work more often with them, but he no longer lives there.

Labbett appeared on Mastermind in 1999, where his specialist subject was the Olympic Games.[11] He appeared again on Mastermind in 2000, with the animated television show The Simpsons as his specialist subject.[12] Also in 2000, he competed on Countdown, narrowly losing his first game on a crucial conundrum.[13] In 2003, he appeared on Grand Slam, where he lost against Clive Spate.[14]

In 2004, he won £500 on the Channel 5 show BrainTeaser, and a year later he won £1,500 on BBC One's SUDO-Q.[9] In 2005, he won £32,000 on Millionaire Live, a live version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? that toured seaside resorts throughout the summer.[9][15] As captain, he led the Welsh quiz team to fifth place in the 2006 European Quizzing Championships.[8] In 2007, he was ranked as the 17th top quizzer in the country.[8]

Labbett's team, the Rugby Boys, won BBC Four's Only Connect in 2009.[16] Other television appearances include The National Lottery People's Quiz (2007) where he came second in the grand final,[17] Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,[18] where he won £32,000, University Challenge[11] and Are You an Egghead?

In 2012, Labbett was ranked 81st in the World Quizzing Championships.[19]

In 2016, Labbett took part in the three-part ITV series Sugar Free Farm, when he revealed he has false teeth, as a result of eating too much sugar.[20][21] That same year, it was announced that he would become a producer for Hull-based wrestling promotion New Generation Wrestling (NGW).[22]

The Chase

See also: The Chase (UK game show), The Chase (U.S. game show), and The Chase Australia

Labbett is one of the "Chasers" in the ITV teatime quiz The Chase, first broadcast in 2009 and hosted by Bradley Walsh. In the show, his nickname is "The Beast",[23] a two-pronged nickname referencing both his stature and his surname (Labbett sounds like the French la bête, meaning "the beast").

In August 2013, Labbett appeared as the only Chaser on the U.S. version of The Chase on Game Show Network. He also appears as one of six Chasers on the Australian version of The Chase on the Seven Network, alongside fellow UK Chasers Anne Hegerty and Shaun Wallace.[3] His weakest subject revolves around horse racing and soap opera[24]

Personal life

Labbett moved to Caldicot, Monmouthshire in 1998 and then to nearby Newport, in 2003 before moving to Moorgate, Rotherham, in 2013.[25][26] He now lives in or near Herefordshire.[27]Labbett is a Type-II diabetic.

Labbett married his wife, Kate[28], who is his second cousin and 27 years his junior, on October 2014 at Arundel Cathedral.[29][30]

Filmography

Year Title Role Channel
2009— The Chase Chaser ITV
2011— The Chase: Celebrity Specials
2013–2015 The Chase USA Game Show Network
2016— The Chase Australia Channel 7
2017— The Family Chase ITV

Guest appearances

References

  1. ^ Mark Labbett Welsh Radio Interview. YouTube. 5 February 2012.
  2. ^ Labbett, Mark. "Twitter - Mark Labbett". Twitter. Retrieved 29 July 2014. where is my invite?? at a legitimate 30lbs I am by far the biggest heel on UK television!
  3. ^ a b Byrnes, Holly (29 November 2015). "The Chase Australia's newest UK recruit Mark Labbett is already doing a number on rivals at Nine". The Sunday Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Biography". Mark "The Beast" Labbett. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c "The People's Quiz 2007". BBC. April 2007. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  9. ^ a b c Papworth, Jill (27 January 2007). "Lucky break? Don't leave it to chance". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. ^ Smale, Will (17 April 2001). "PUB QUIZ TEAM IS GIVEN PRIZE GRILLING". South Wales Echo. Western Mail and Echo Ltd. p. 16.
  11. ^ a b Hutchinson, Clare (13 October 2009). "'Come on, Paxman, if you think you're hard enough...' says wicked Humphrys ; Questions at 20 paces in quiz duel - and we'll even make it easy for you Humphrys". The Western Mail. Western Mail and Echo Ltd. p. 14.
  12. ^ PRICE, KAREN (6 August 2004). "MASTERMIND ACCUSED OF SELLING OUT IN RATINGS FIGHT". Western Mail. Western Mail and Echo Ltd. p. 10.
  13. ^ "Episode 2771 - Countdown".
  14. ^ "Match Review - Game 01 - Channel 4 - Grand Slam". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 31 August 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2017. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Hedge, John Paul (5 September 2005). "Winners walk off with two cars and £16k". Herald Express. Torquay: Herald Express (Torquay). p. 4.
  16. ^ "NEWSBRIEF". South Wales Echo. Western Mail and Echo Ltd. 1 September 2009. p. 6.
  17. ^ Bjortomt, Olav (23 June 2007). "Your starter for £200,000 (subscription required)". The Times (The Knowledge). Times Newspapers Limited. p. 33.
  18. ^ Heritage, Stuart (28 June 2010). "The Chase: how to make the perfect daytime gameshow". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  19. ^ "Results". worldquizzing.com.
  20. ^ "Sugar Free Farm Episode 1".
  21. ^ "The Chase's Mark Labbett reveals he wears false teeth due to daily 10 bar chocolate habit". BT.com. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  22. ^ "NGW: 'The Beast' comes to NGW". www.ngwuk.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Quiz beast appearance". Bristol Evening Post. Bristol United Press. 12 May 2012. p. 19.
  24. ^ The Chase's Beast Reveals His Quiz Knowledge Achilles Heel | Lorraine
  25. ^ Gaskell, Simon (5 January 2014). "The Chase quiz sensation Mark 'The Beast' Labbett cracks America". Wales Online. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  26. ^ "Chase's Beast moves to South Yorkshire". The Star. Sheffield. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  27. ^ Philips, Jessica (23 October 2015). "TV chaser 'the Beast' visits Herefordshire tearoom". Hereford Times.
  28. ^ The Chase's Beast Introduces His Wife Katie | Loose Women
  29. ^ Yaqoob, Janine (11 October 2014). "The Chase game show star Mark 'Beast' Labbett marries girl less than half his age". Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  30. ^ "Winter 2014 Edition" (PDF). Parish Proclaimer. Arundel. 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  31. ^ "The Chase and Tipping Point are crossing over!". 3 November 2016.

External links

The Chase
Categories