Paul Sinha has hit back at claims he gave his fellow quizzer Jenny Ryan a “dirty look” on Beat The Chasers last night.
The first episode of The Chase’s spin-off series aired yesterday (Monday, April 27) and pitted brave members of the public against all five of the chasers.
Read more: Paul Sinha reassures fans of The Chase he isn’t leaving
Paul Sinha was on the formidable quiz panel alongside Jenny Ryan and their fellow stars of The Chase – Shaun Wallace, Mark Labbett and Anne Hegerty.
With the five chasers all competing at once, it was fastest to the buzzer to answer questions read out by host Bradley Walsh.
Wrong answer
At one point in the show, Bradders asked them: “‘Songwriter’ is a documentary about which English pop-star?”
Jenny ‘The Vixen’ Ryan was quickest to buzz, offering up the answer Elton John. But it was incorrect, as the right answer was Ed Sheeran.
Paul was seen looking over at Jenny with what some viewers interpreted as an expression of annoyance.
One viewer reacted: “Paul’s face when Jenny got that answer wrong :p #BeatTheChasers.”
I didn’t know the answer.
Another said: “Paul giving Jenny some absolute death stares right there #BeatTheChasers.”
Someone else tweeted: “Paul not happy with Jenny there #BeatTheChasers”
Paul's face when Jenny got that answer wrong :p #BeatTheChasers
— James Townsend (@der_commissar) April 27, 2020
Paul giving Jenny some absolute death stares right there #BeatTheChasers
— laura! (@lauradixy) April 27, 2020
Paul not happy with Jenny there #BeatTheChasers
— Stephen Parker (@sjp040565) April 27, 2020
Taking to Twitter towards the end of the episode, Paul rubbished suggestions he had an issue with his co-star.
What did Paul say?
He explained: “I did not give @jenlion a dirty look. I didn’t know the answer.
I did not give @jenlion a dirty look. I didn't know the answer. And Jenny takes a lot of hits by buzzing in with pop culture guesses when the rest of us are clueless. My annoyance was with me for not knowing the answer.
— Paul Sinha (@paulsinha) April 27, 2020
“And Jenny takes a lot of hits by buzzing in with pop culture guesses when the rest of us are clueless. My annoyance was with me for not knowing the answer.”
Jenny was among those to reply to Paul’s tweet. She explained to followers that the team was less concerned with incorrect answers and more eager to avoid simply passing on questions they did not know.
You actually may as well guess in this format, it takes up only slightly more time than passing and there’s a chance it will pay off. We wanted to avoid passes as much as possible.
— Jenny Ryan (@jenlion) April 27, 2020
Read more: The Chase’s Paul Sinha slams contestant’s ‘deeply unimpressive’ performance as she takes low offer
She said: “You actually may as well guess in this format, it takes up only slightly more time than passing and there’s a chance it will pay off. We wanted to avoid passes as much as possible.”
Beat The Chasers continues tonight (Tuesday, April 28) at 9pm on ITV and airs every evening this week
– Think you have what it takes? Have a go at our quiz and see for yourself.
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