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Television

03rd Mar 2021

Phillip Schofield favourite to replace Bradley Walsh on The Chase

Wil Jones

It won’t be the same without Bradley Walsh

Phillip Schofield is being tipped to replace Bradley Walsh on The Chase.

There has been no official word of Walsh leaving the popular daytime TV quiz, but it has been suggested that this could be his last year on hosting duties.

Bookmakers Paddy Power are currently calling Phillip Schofield the 4/1 favourite to replace Walsh.

“Bradley Walsh is such a major part of The Chase that it’s hard to imagine the show without him,” a spokesman for Paddy Power said.

“I mean, who else is going to break down laughing at questions including names like Fanny Chmelar and Dick Tingler?”

“With ITV bosses making moves to run a spin-off show without Brad, it seems that it’s not just the contestants who are now ‘one step closer to home.'”

It follows the announcement of a new series for spin-off The Chase Extra, without Bradley Walsh hosting.

Trailing Bradley Walsh in the odds are Dermot O’Leary and Shane Ritchie.

O’Leary is currently at 6/1, with former Eastenders star Ritchie at 8/1.

In other The Chase betting news, Anne Hegarty aka The Governess is tipped to be the first Chaser to leave the show for good in over a decade, at 5/6.

Bradley Walsh has presented the quiz show since it launched back in 2009.

The Chase is one of ITV’s most successful daytime shows ever, regularly getting audiences of three to five million viewers.

In April 2020, ITV launched a spin-off, Beat The Chasers, also hosted by Walsh.