The Chase Celebrity Special

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.

Colin Jackson (Contestant)

Born: February 18, 1967 in Cardiff

Best Known For: Being a 110m hurdler, and a sports presenter.

Early-life: Colin Ray Jackson was born in Cardiff on February 18, 1967. He is of Jamaican, Maroon, Taino and Scottish ancestry. His sister is actress Suzanne Packer. He grew up in Birchgrove. He played football and cricket for his county and rugby union and basketball for his school. He went on to join the Birchgrove Harriers athletics club. Colin initially focused on decathlon events before specialising on the 110m hurdles. He won gold at the 1986 World Junior Championships.

Career: Jackson picked up silver medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He set a world record for the 110m hurdles in August 1993, winning his first World Championships gold medal. The record stood for 13 years. Between August 1993 and February 1995, he won 44 consecutive races. During a distinguished sporting career, he won two World Championships, a World Indoor Championship, four European Championships, three European Indoor Championships, and two Commonwealth Games. After retiring in 2003, Jackson became a coach in athletics and other sports, and enjoys a media career with the BBC. In 2005, he lost out to Darren Gough in the final of Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: "When you're representing your country in Sydney one day and in Wales the next, there's a brutal realisation that real life isn't that fantasy where everybody looks after you and you get anything you demand."

Trivia: Jackson has been awarded an MBE, OBE and CBE.

Anne Diamond (Contestant)

Born: September 08, 1954 in Malvern, Worcestershire

Best Known For: Celebrity Big Brother and TV-am.

Early-life: Anne Margaret Diamond was born in Birmingham on September 8, 1954, the second of three daughters in a conventional middle-class family. Her father James was a radar scientist who had been posted to Malvern during the war, where he met Anne's mother, a local girl called Marguerite, a former nurse. After leaving school, Diamond decided to become a journalist and landed a job on the Bridgewater Mercury.

Career: Her first TV job was as a researcher for BBC Bristol. She then moved to ATV as a reporter and newsreader. She moved to BBC's Nationwide and then to sofa-land of TV-am, which had been struggling after several big-name presenters left. Diamond's partnership with Nick Owen made them both stars as the show soon topped breakfast TV ratings. On leaving in 1989, she worked on radio, hosted TV Weekly, and then re-teamed with Owen for Good Morning with Anne and Nick, which had been designed as the BBC's answer to This Morning. It ran for 600 editions. In 2002, she appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. She has been a regular panellist on The Wright Stuff since 2003.

Quote: "The fact that I put on so much weight was probably symptomatic of what was going wrong at home."

Trivia: Away from showbusiness, Diamond campaigns to find the causes of cot death following the death of her baby son Sebastian in 1991.

Josie Long (Contestant)

Nicky Campbell (Contestant)

Born: April 10, 1961 in Edinburgh

Best Known For: Presenting consumer shows.

Early-life: Nicholas Andrew Argyle Campbell was born on April 10, 1961, and given up for adoption by his mother, Stella Lackey-Newton. He was brought up in Edinburgh by Frank and Elizabeth Campbell and started looking for Stella after his adoptive dad died. Mother and son were reunited in 1996, and after becoming a dad himself, he decided to find out more about his birth father. He studied at Aberdeen University where he and his friends, including the actor Iain Glen, were the driving force behind the drama society.

Career: Campbell cut his broadcasting teeth on Aberdeen's Northsound, joining Radio 1 in 1987 with a late-night Saturday programme. He launched the station's new drive-time slot in 1994, and took over the afternoon show in 1995. He has also branched out into TV, fronting the regional debate programme Central Weekend, which gained notoriety for its raucous arguments, and hosting game show The Wheel of Fortune between 1988 and 1994. Campbell joined Radio Five Live in 1997, and in 2004 he launched daytime chat show Now You're Talking. He hosted Watchdog for eight years until 2009, and now co-hosts Long Lost Family with Davina McCall, and consumer show Your Money Their Tricks.

Quote: "Too many DJs have shallow personalities."

Trivia: He is a patron of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering.

Helen Tumbridge (Executive producer)

Martin Scott (Executive producer)

Michael Kelpie (Executive producer)

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Thursday, December 25 on Challenge (48)

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Season 11, Episode 5

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