Beat The Chasers welcomes five celeb contestants in tonight’s first-ever celebrity special (Saturday March 27), as well as Chaser Darragh Ennis.
Nicknamed The Menace, 40-year-old Darragh makes his first appearance in the spin-off show.
And he admitted that he had to change his tactics ahead of his debut.
What did Darragh Ennis say about Beat The Chasers?
Now a fixture on The Chase, Darragh makes his first appearance on the show alongside Mark Labbett, Anne Hegerty, Shaun Wallace and Jenny Ryan.
He takes the place of Paul Sinha, who was ill when filming began.
Read more: Beat the Chasers Celebrity special: Joe Pasquale demands Chasers ‘do their worst’
The fab five takes on Joe Pasquale, Katherine Ryan, Radzi Chinyanganya, Shaun Williamson and Christine Ohuruogu.
But for Darragh, Beat The Chasers and The Chase are two different beasts and he had to alter his tactics accordingly.
The need for speed
He told ED!: “It took me a few minutes to hit my stride as this was the first time I’d been on a team with the others.
“I had to get my speed up.
“On The Chase my Final Chase tactics are slow and careful, but that doesn’t work for Beat the Chasers.
This show is ALL about speed and we’re really up against it with some of the time offers we give.
“This show is ALL about speed and we’re really up against it with some of the time offers we give.
“But we have such a range of strengths that once we hit our stride we are very hard to beat.”
A “compliment” celebs wanted to take part
However, Darragh was thrilled to be part of the show, which has become a huge hit for ITV.
Series two was shown over the New Year period in early January 2021 over seven consecutive nights.
“It was brilliant to see the celebrities walking on to the set to take us on,” he said.
“I’ve not done any celebrity specials yet so this was my first time doing a celebrity show and it was wonderful to see so many people who have excelled in different fields try their luck against us for some very deserving causes.”
As for the celebrities themselves – all used to performing in front of tens of thousands of people – Darragh was intrigued as to how they would react.
“That some of them find performing in front of thousands of people in theatres or stadiums less threatening than us was very unexpected, I guess it’s a kind of compliment,” he said.
How did the celebs do in tonight’s show?
As for how well the celebrities did, we can’t possibly say.
But Darragh teased the show by saying: “I thought [The Chasers] did quite well.
“There were some very close matches against the celebs.
Read more: The Chase: Paul Sinha supported by fans after dropping out of Beat The Chasers
“We tried to draw them in with hard choices on the offers of time and money and that led to some last gasp wins and losses. Huge money offers were on the table.
“Did any celebs walk away with big cash prizes? I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and see.”
Beat The Chasers is on tonight (Saturday March 27) at 8.35pm on ITV
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