Mark Labbett

Mark Andrew Labbett[2] (born 15 August 1965) is a British quizzer, television personality and BBC Radio 1 DJ. He is a "chaser" on the ITV game show The Chase, starting in 2009. He subsequently appeared on the American version as their sole chaser in 2013 and as one of six chasers on the Australian version since 2016.[3] His nickname on these shows is "The Beast".

Mark Labbett
Labbett on The Chase in 2014
Born
Mark Andrew Labbett

(1965-08-15) 15 August 1965
Tiverton, Devon, England[1]
OccupationTelevision personality
Years active1999–present
Notable credit(s)
The Chase (2009–)
The Chase USA (2013–2015)
The Chase Australia (2016–)
Spouse(s)
Katie Labbett (m. 2014)
Children1
Websitemarklabbett.co.uk

Labbett has appeared as a contestant on several other television quiz shows and is a regular in quizzing competitions.

In April 2020 he appeared on The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, completing a 30-minute DJ set alongside fellow presenters Scott Mills and Chris Stark.

Early life

Mark Andrew 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 was a mathematics and physical education supply teacher at Caldicot comprehensive Comprehensive in South Wales.[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 2001 he appeared on Stake Out, where he was the second contestant eliminated during the Face Off round. In 2003, he appeared on Grand Slam, where he lost against Clive Spate in his first match.[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] He appeared on Who Wants to be a Millionaire twice, firstly on fastest finger first in Series 18 broadcast on 5th November 2005. He returned the following series (19) and made the hot seat, winning £32,000 across two episodes in April 2006. In 2005, he also 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]

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]University Challenge[11] and Are You an Egghead?.

In 2012, Labbett was ranked 89th in the World Quizzing Championships.[18]

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.[19][20] That same year, it was announced that he would become a producer for Hull-based wrestling promotion New Generation Wrestling (NGW).[21]

The Chase
See also: The Chase (British game show), The Chase (American 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",[22] 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 American version of The Chase on Game Show Network. He also appears as one of the seven chasers on the Australian version of The Chase on the Seven Network, alongside fellow UK chasers Anne Hegerty and Shaun Wallace.[3] His weakest subjects are horse racing and soap operas.[23] He noted that the American version posed far more difficulties for him, as American game shows typically allow far more competent contestants than British or Australian shows; he stated that his most challenging opponent was James Holzhauer, co-winner of the American version of The Chase and later a famous Jeopardy! contestant.[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 resides in or near Herefordshire.[27] He is Type-II diabetic.[28]

Labbett married his wife, Katie,[29] who is his second cousin and 27 years his junior, in October 2014 at Arundel Cathedral.[30][31] They have a son.[32] The couple reportedly separated in 2019[33] but reconciled for the sake of their child.[34]

Labbett's favourite football team is Sheffield United.[35]

Television
Year Title Role Channel
2009–present The Chase Chaser ITV
2011– The Chase: Celebrity Specials ITV
2013–2015 The Chase USA Game Show Network
2016– The Chase Australia Channel 7
2017–present The Family Chase ITV
2020–present Beat The Chasers ITV

Guest appearances

References
  1. Mark Labbett Welsh Radio Interview. YouTube. 5 February 2012.
  2. Labbett, Mark [@MarkLabbett] (14 February 2018). "In that case, for posterity, Mark Andrew Labbett :)" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 February 2018 – via Twitter.
  3. 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.
  8. "The People's Quiz 2007". BBC. April 2007. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  9. 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. 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.
  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. "Results". worldquizzing.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  19. "Sugar Free Farm Episode 1".
  20. "The Chase's Mark Labbett reveals he wears false teeth due to daily 10 bar chocolate habit". BT.com. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  21. "NGW: 'The Beast' comes to NGW". www.ngwuk.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  22. "Quiz beast appearance". Bristol Evening Post. Bristol United Press. 12 May 2012. p. 19.
  23. Lorraine (23 January 2017). "The Chase's Beast Reveals His Quiz Knowledge Achilles Heel – Lorraine" – via YouTube.
  24. Pinsker, Joe (24 April 2019). "James Holzhauer Explains the Strategy Behind His Jeopardy Winning Streak". The Atlantic. Retrieved 24 April 2019. I've got to give Jeopardy! immense credit, and The Chase U.S.A. In Britain or Australia, James would not have made it onto television, because he's just too damn good. They would never have him on.
  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, UK. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  27. Philips, Jessica (23 October 2015). "TV chaser 'the Beast' visits Herefordshire tearoom". Hereford Times.
  28. Wright, Minnie (17 October 2017). "The Chase star Mark Labbett reveals life-changing diagnosis: 'No arguments now'". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  29. "The Chase's Beast Introduces His Wife Katie". Loose Women. 21 August 2017 – via YouTube.
  30. 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.
  31. "Winter 2014 Edition" (PDF). Parish Proclaimer. Arundel. 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  32. https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/chase-mark-labbett-weight-loss-14359370.amp
  33. Marshall, Michelle (12 May 2019). "Mark Labbett: The Chase star's wife Katie breaks silence on their SPLIT 'It's hard'". Daily Express. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  34. Deen, Sarah. "The Chase star Mark Labbett and wife Katie are back together". Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  35. "Mark Labbett 'talked' The Chase co-star Anne Hegerty into I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here". Sheffield Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  36. "'The Chase' Star Mark Labbett Was On 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' (But How Much Did He Win?)". 6 January 2017.
  37. "The Chase and Tipping Point are crossing over!". 3 November 2016.
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