Joe Sugg makes The Chase history after taking £201,000 offer
Joe Sugg produced one of the most memorable moments of his The Chase appearance when he took the show’s enormous £201,000 high offer and successfully made it through his head-to-head round.
The 32-year-old content creator and former Strictly Come Dancing finalist had already banked £8,000 in the Cash Builder. He then faced a decision that could have dramatically changed the celebrity team’s prize fund: accept the £1,000 low offer or risk everything for £201,000.
Sugg chose the gamble.
His decision prompted host Bradley Walsh to joke that the pair could be about to “go viral”, while also telling Sugg that he would be making history if he managed to get through.
The episode, which aired as a celebrity special on Saturday, featured Sugg alongside singer Myles Stephenson, newsreader Lucrezia Millarini and former footballer David James. The celebrities were competing to raise money for their chosen charities while taking on Paul Sinha, known on the show as the Sinnerman.
Joe Sugg takes the £201,000 gamble
After scoring £8,000 in the Cash Builder, Sugg was presented with the usual choice of offers before his head-to-head against Sinha.
The lower offer stood at just £1,000. The higher offer was a staggering £201,000.
Sugg immediately recognised the potential significance of going for the larger amount.
“If I go for the [the high offer] it could make a viral moment, which is a good thing,” he said. “It’d be an incredible amount for charity as well.”
He then committed to the high offer.
It was a huge risk, but Sugg handled the questions impressively and moved closer to securing what was being described as a historic amount on the show. The £201,000 figure would go on to become the highest amount taken through a Chase head-to-head round.
The hedgehog question that sealed it
Everything came down to one final question.
Sugg was asked: “Which of a hedgehog’s senses is very poor?”
The three options were sight, hearing and smell.
He went with sight.
Before the answer was revealed, Walsh could barely contain his excitement. He told Sugg: “You’re gonna make history here, mate. If you go though you’re making history.”
Walsh then added: “We’re gonna go viral. I better stand next to you if you’re gonna go through! Come on, good luck.”
The answer was indeed sight.
Sugg immediately celebrated, jumping up in front of the cheering audience before embracing Walsh. His successful head-to-head meant that the huge £201,000 was added to the celebrity team’s prize fund.
The prize fund reaches £213,000
Sugg’s success put the team in an excellent position heading into the final round, although Lucrezia Millarini had already been eliminated.
That left Sugg, Myles Stephenson and David James to take on the Chaser.
The £201,000 secured by Sugg made up almost all of the eventual £213,000 prize fund. James and Stephenson joined him for the Final Chase, with the trio needing to answer as many questions as possible while staying ahead of Sinha.
They managed to get 18 questions correct, giving themselves a serious chance of securing the money for charity.
But the Chaser caught them with just under 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
The £213,000 prize fund therefore disappeared, despite Sugg’s extraordinary individual performance earlier in the show.
A disappointing ending, but a memorable record
Although the celebrities missed out on the £213,000, they were not left empty-handed. Each contestant was given £1,000 for their chosen charity.
For Sugg, however, the defining moment of the episode was always likely to be his extraordinary head-to-head against Sinha.
He had started with £8,000 in the Cash Builder, taken the risk of accepting a £201,000 offer and then correctly answered the crucial hedgehog question to bring the enormous sum into the final.
The team ultimately could not hold on to the money, but Sugg’s £201,000 remains the standout moment of the celebrity special and, according to subsequent coverage of the show, the record for the biggest amount won in a Chase head-to-head.
