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The Chase has been accused of being ‘rigged’ after a controversial final round left viewers reeling.
On an episode that aired last night (20 April), the nail-biting finale saw contestants Damien, 38, and Rosie, 58, competing for £15,000 bagged earlier in the competition.
As you’ll well know, the ITV game show finishes up with a head-to-head between the participants and a Chaser, in this case Paul 'The Sinnerman' Sinha.
Damien and Rosie did well, setting a target of 17 questions for Paul to answer.
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But while they had two opportunities for a pushback, The Sinnerman reached the finish line with 30 seconds remaining.
It was a tough blow for the pair who unfortunately went home with nothing, despite putting in a solid effort.
Paul had described them as a ‘super team’ before the final Chase, but even they weren’t a match for the tricky questions they were faced with.
Questions such as ‘Dickens published the Pickwick Papers under what pseudonym?’ and ‘The Battle of Saratoga was fought in which century?’
Many viewers thought their round was too difficult, with some saying The Sinnerman’s questions were too easy and others accusing the show of being ‘rigged’.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: "That has to be the biggest set of bulls**t questions I've ever seen. Absolutely rigged!"
Another said: "Those questions were f***** murder,” while a third commented: "Is this #TheChase or University Challenge?"
A fourth chimed in: "Feel a bit sorry for these on #TheChase today. Some questions them."
This certainly isn’t the first time viewers have accused the show of being fixed - several years back, it was claimed the clock appeared to freeze in order to help Chaser Anne Hegerty beat the contestants.
One Twitter user posted: "Rigged see how long it stayed on 1 second for hahaha #TheChase."
Others then agreed with him, with another writing: "I've always said the clock and chaser's questions are rigged."
However, a spokesperson for the show said at the time: "Anne gave the final correct answer within the time remaining. The game control system stops the countdown as soon as the correct answer is given.
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"On this specific example, the clock stopped with 1 second still showing, giving the appearance that the Chaser had more time to answer but, in fact, the Chaser had already given the correct answer, the clock had been stopped and the team had been caught with one second remaining on the clock.
"This was checked and confirmed by an independent adjudicator. This was explained to the contestants who accepted and agreed with the decision."
Topics: The Chase, ITV, TV and Film
Daisy Phillipson