The Chase’s Bradley Walsh pulls player aside after ‘cheeky’ remark about Shaun Wallace

Bradley Walsh had to step in during the latest episode of The Chase after contestant Elliot delivered a rather cheeky response to Shaun Wallace’s poetry.

The ITV quiz show returned to screens on September 29, with Bradley back at the helm as four contestants took on one of the show’s Chasers in the hope of winning a share of the cash prize.

Mark, Cat, Elliot and Doyin joined Bradley for the latest contest, but their path to the final was made particularly interesting by the presence of Shaun Wallace, better known to viewers as The Dark Destroyer.

Shaun was ready to put the contestants through their paces, although his encounter with Elliot quickly took an unexpected turn.

Elliot, who lives in Manchester, revealed that he is a keen poetry fan and also writes poems himself. That immediately gave Shaun an opportunity to show off his own poetic skills before the pair went head-to-head.

Shaun Wallace breaks into poetry

When Elliot came face-to-face with Shaun, the Chaser decided to respond with a poem of his own.

“Hello, Elliot. The Tutor. It’s your party, but I’m a pooper. So get on your bike, or a scooter. It’s outside, beeping its hooter,” Shaun recited.

Rather than simply accepting the performance, Elliot offered his own assessment.

“It’s actually not that bad,” he replied.

Bradley was quick to react, responding: “Oh my goodness.”

Elliot then explained that, despite the content of the poem, he thought Shaun had technically done a good job.

“The rhyme was good, the syllables were there, like, pure form-wise, like, the way it’s structured, like, genuinely actually pretty good!” he said.

Bradley Walsh takes Elliot to one side

Elliot’s honesty prompted Bradley to intervene. The presenter took the contestant to one side, where Elliot appeared to realise he may have been encouraging Shaun a little too much.

“I’m sorry though it is,” Elliot quipped.

Bradley then gave him some advice, telling him not to encourage the Chaser.

“Don’t encourage him. Just say, ‘Well done, good effort, and let’s move on otherwise we’ll be all night,’” Bradley told him.

The pair returned to the machine, with Elliot following Bradley’s instructions and telling Shaun: “Well done, good effort, and let’s move on.”

But Shaun was not about to let the exchange go.

The Chaser joked that Elliot’s “cheeky remark” had earned him a low offer of just £1,000.

The light-hearted exchange added another memorable moment to Elliot’s appearance, but the contestant still had the more important task of trying to stay ahead of Shaun.

Elliot is caught as Mark faces the Final Chase

Unfortunately for Elliot, his run came to an end when Shaun caught him.

That left Mark as the only player to make it through to the Final Chase, where he was playing for £4,000.

Mark managed to build a score of 15, but Shaun continued to close the gap before eventually catching him with 21 seconds remaining.

As the contest came to an end, Bradley told Mark: “Mark hope you’ve enjoyed it!”

Mark responded: “Fair play Shaun.”

Bradley praised his performance, adding: “Brilliant effort on your own!”

Shaun agreed, telling Mark: “That was superb mate,” before applauding.

Despite the result, the episode had already provided plenty of entertainment, with Elliot’s assessment of Shaun’s unexpected poetry performance giving Bradley another reason to step in and keep the exchange moving.

The Chase airs Monday to Friday at 5pm on ITV1.