The Chase’s Shaun Wallace, best known as the Dark Destroyer, has laid down his ultimatum for why he would leave the quiz show.
The 66-year-old brainbox has been an eponymous chaser since 2009, making him one of the original stars alongside the iconic Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett.
Since the first days of the ITV show helmed by Bradley Walsh, however, the group of quiz whizzes giving the general public a run for their money has grown considerably.
In 2010, the formidable force herself, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty came aboard, followed closely by Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha in 2011.
After a few years’ lull, Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan entered the fold and, rounding off the gang in 2020, was student turned master Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis.
Now, however, Shaun has declared enough is enough. It’s cosy enough back there, according to the gameshow legend.
‘I can’t see any other chasers being appointed. And if it got too crowded, I’d probably leave,’ he candidly told The Sun.
Reflecting on the changing line-up, he acknowledged that some of it was necessary, especially when redressing the gender balance by adding Jenny to the cast.
‘There was three of us for two years. Then there was four of us for five. And, you know, that’s when they decided that we needed another female chaser, which I think was good,’ he said, noting that Jenny came out ‘on top by a mile’ during the contest to appoint the new Chaser.
Still, there are only so many people you can add before you start to push people out the other side.
As Shaun put it: ‘I think if they had one more, then I’d consider it [quitting]. Because it would look ridiculous to have too many chasers.’
He acknowledged that the viewers are also not the best when it comes to embracing change.
‘They were sceptical when Jenny first came on,’ he said. ‘They were sceptical when Darragh first came on. Because they don’t like change.’
Still, the devoted audience have come face-to-face with it in recent weeks after tuning into a brand new spin-off, The Chase Around the World, where six teams must solve clues to track down Bradley and the Chasers who are scattered about the globe.
The barrister-turned-TV star has done well for himself after a 17-year career on the show.