The Chase Celebrity Special


9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Sunday, July 19 on Challenge (48)

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About this Broadcast

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Season 6, Episode 5

Bradley Walsh presents as celebrity contestants Nigel Havers, Melinda Messenger, Michelle Hardwick and Dave Gorman pit their wits against ruthless quiz genius the Chaser in the hope of winning a potential prize pot worth thousands of pounds. They must work as a team and play strategically to answer general knowledge questions against the clock and race down the game board to the exit without being caught


subtitles repeat 16x9 audio-description
Game Show/Quiz/Contest Show/Game Show

Cast & Crew

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Nigel Havers (Contestant)
Melinda Messenger (Contestant)
Michelle Hardwick (Contestant)
Dave Gorman (Contestant)
Michael Kelpie (Executive producer)
Martin Scott (Executive producer)
Helen Tumbridge (Series producer)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Bradley Walsh (Host)
Born: June 04, 1960 in Watford
Best Known For: Coronation Street and Law & Order: UK
Early-life: Bradley John Walsh was born in Watford on June 4, 1960. He wanted to be a footballer and was playing for a county league team when he was offered a contract with Brentford FC. Sadly, his sporting career was brought to an abrupt end when he broke both his ankles. He then considered joining the police, but was told he was too short, so he followed his father into engineering. He eventually decided to try stand-up comedy, and made his first steps towards turning professional when he became an entertainer at a holiday camp near Morecambe.
Career: Walsh's big TV break came in 1993, when he appeared on the Royal Variety Show. It led to a stint presenting the National Lottery, and he also hosted the game shows Wheel of Fortune and Win, Lose or Draw. After fearing his brand of light entertainment was becoming dated he moved into acting, taking parts in the TV version of Lock, Stock, the soap Night and Day and movie Mike Bassett: England Manager before Coronation Street's bosses created the role of Danny Baldwin for him in 2004. He stayed in Weatherfield for two years before leaving to pursue other projects. He's since appeared in Torn, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Law and Order: UK and SunTrap. He moved back into presenting in 2009 with ITV quiz show The Chase, and is a team captain on Play to the Whistle.
Quote: 'Professionally I saw the end of light entertainment galloping towards me. Oddly enough, it's coming back now thanks to all the reality shows.'
Trivia: Walsh is a supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Nigel Havers (Contestant)
Born: November 06, 1949 in London
Best Known For: Playing lovable cads.
Early-life: Nigel Allan Havers was born on November 6, 1949, in London. He is the son of barrister Michael, Lord Havers, who became famous for successfully defending Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1967 after their arrest on drugs charges. Lord Havers was also chief prosecutor during the Yorkshire Ripper trial and was briefly the Lord Chancellor in 1987. Nigel went to the Arts Educational School before deciding to become an actor; his older brother, Philip, followed in their father's footsteps by becoming a QC.
Career: Havers' first acting job was on the Mrs Dale's Diary radio series. He also spent time with the Prospect Theatre Company. During a lean period he became a wine merchant, but things picked up after an appearance in Upstairs, Downstairs. He's since cropped up in the likes of Chariots of Fire (for which he received a Bafta nomination), Pennies from Heaven, Tales of the Unexpected and A Passage to India. The sitcom Don't Wait Up was a huge hit, and was followed by The Charmer. More recently he's featured in The Sarah Jane Adventures, Brothers and Sisters, Downton Abbey and I'm A Celebrity Get… Me Out of Here! Havers walked out of the latter after a week in the jungle. He played the role of Lewis Archer in Coronation Street in 2009, 2010 and 2012.
Quote: 'I am always cheerful and optimistic. If I am ever turned down after an audition, I allow myself just 24 hours to sulk, and then I forget about it, smile, and move on.'
Trivia: He is a regular on the pantomime circuit. He is also the godfather of comedian Jack Whitehall.
Melinda Messenger (Contestant)
Born: February 23, 1971 in Swindon
Best Known For: Being a Page Three model
Early-life: Melinda Jayne Messenger was born in Swindon on February 23, 1971. Her parents divorced when she was five. After leaving school, she worked for Britannia Airways as a flight attendant for six months. She then joined a marketing company, rising to the position of customer services manager. However, Melinda decided she wanted to be a model and was advised to have her breasts enlarged. A campaign for a double glazing company led to national exposure.
Career: Messenger's racy photoshoots for tabloid newspapers made her a firm favourite with male readers. The Sun poached her and named her 'the girl of the Thrillenium', until its readers voted to ban surgically enhanced models from Page 3. Her TV career began in 1997 when she worked on Channel 4's Eurotrash. A year later, she joined ex-EastEnders actor Leslie Grantham to present Five's cult game show Fort Boyard. In 2002, she came third on Celebrity Big Brother and was a contestant on Dancing on Ice in 2009. Other projects include Live From Studio Five and Cowboy Builders. In early 2014, she was one of the celebrity contestants on Channel 4's reality series The Jump.
Quote: 'I think I've had to work twice as hard as anyone else because there's a lot of prejudice, and people think 'she's a glamour model so she's this type of person' so I've always had to battle that sort of prejudice.'
Trivia: Messenger has performed in a number of pantomimes.
Michelle Hardwick (Contestant)
Born: February 26, 1976 in Wakefield
Best Known For: The Royal and Emmerdale.
Early-life: Michelle was born in Wakefield on February 26, 1976. She studied performing arts at Park Lane College in Leeds before attending Scala Performing Arts in the city.
Career: Hardwick guest starred in Coronation Street, Heartbeat and The Courtroom before being cast as receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in hospital drama The Royal, a role she played for nine years. In 2012, she joined the cast of Emmerdale, playing Vanessa Woodfield.
Quote: 'People say, ‘I'd never have guessed you were gay' because they expect you to look a certain way and I don't fit their stereotype.'
Trivia: Hardwick has taken part in Race for Life events to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Dave Gorman (Contestant)
Born: March 02, 1971 in Stafford
Best Known For: Travelling the world meeting other people called Dave Gorman.
Early-life: David James Gorman was born in Stafford on March 3, 1971. He has a twin brother, Nick. Dave studied maths at Staffordshire University, but dropped out in order to perform stage comedy. He became a popular attraction at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but found his niche when he made the transition from traditional stand-up to a more innovative, investigative medium. One of his early shows was based entirely on the lyrics to Ian Dury's song, Reasons to be Cheerful. Dave shot to fame when he accepted a bet by his roommate Danny Wallace that he could not find 54 people with the name Dave Gorman. It formed the basis of a phenomenally successful stage and TV show.
Career: Gorman followed up his breakthrough success with other similarly zany projects. His astrology experiment saw him living his life entirely at the whim of his horoscopes, while his googlewhack adventure saw him travelling the world to meet people whose websites possessed the mysterious 'googlewhack' - returning just one search result on the website Google. In 2003, he was listed as one of the 50 funniest comedy acts in The Observer, and he is a regular performer on Radio 4. He also regularly appeared on the BBC Three show Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, and presents a TV version of his own radio show, Genius. He continues to tour as a stand-up comic.
Quote: 'Live gigs are the best thing in the world. But I do really enjoy the behind-the-scenes stuff, the editing etc involved with TV. But as much as I enjoy those things, I still prefer the live gigs.'
Trivia: Gorman supports Liverpool FC.
Michael Kelpie (Executive producer)
Martin Scott (Executive producer)
Helen Tumbridge (Series producer)

Before / After

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The Chase
8:00 pm
The Chase
10:00 pm