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In recent months, ITV has aired numerous repeats of The Chase despite having “tonnes” of new episodes to air – and dedicated fans are growing so frustrated that one of the gameshow’s stars has addressed the situation.
It was pointed out on X/Twitter that, over the last six months, there have been a large number of repeats, followed by the sudden airing of two weeks’ worth of new episodes despite ITV having more in the can.
“After nearly six months of repeat episodes of The Chase, we had two weeks of new episodes, and now we are back to repeat episodes again,” one fan wrote, with another asking Chaser Mark Labbett – known by his moniker The Beast: “Any idea what the thinking is behind this? If the episodes have been filmed, why hold them back?”
He replied on X/Twitter that repeats are “becoming the norm” as ITV is “not making a lot of anything right now” due to budget cuts. It was recently revealed that The Chase would be undertaking a year-long production break after an intense filming run from September until May.
“If they weren’t showing repeats of The Chase, they would probably show repeats of something else,” Labbett added. The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.
In 2025, ITV announced plans to delay some programmes and implement cost cuts due to a significant decline in advertising revenue. The channel pledged to save £20 million from postponing certain programmes, but added that no beloved shows or jobs would be impacted.
ITV also enacted a major overhaul of its daytime schedule, with episodes of Lorraine shortened to 30 minutes and the remaining half-hour added to Good Morning Britain’s runtime. The change came into effect in January 2026.
This Morning and Loose Women were unaffected by the scheduling changes and have remained in their usual respective slots of 10.30am to 12.30pm and 12.30pm and 1.30pm. ITV said that the money recouped from changes in production would be reinvested in other genres.
In July, Labbett’s Chase co-star Anne Hegerty – referred to on the series as The Governess – admitted that the show’s hectic filming schedule had “worked us into the ground”.
Hegerty previously revealed that the Chasers – a panel of quiz afficionados who go head-to-head with contestants in The Chase’s game of trivia – do not draw a regular salary from the show, and are instead paid per episode.
Speaking to Digital Spy, the former journalist and ghostwriter stated that she had made “about £100,000 more last year than I normally do”.
Hegerty claimed that the Chase franchise now generates “about £100m a year” when its spin-offs are taken into account.
“The Chase is only being frozen for a year, and there is a tonne of other stuff we are doing,” she told the outlet.
“We have just done The Chase Around the World. The Chase daytime will absolutely be back. We have tonnes of new shows in the can. We will not have to show any more repeats like we used to have.”
Hegerty added that she “barely had a break” during the intense filming schedule last year.
According to the TV star – who is also known for her 2018 stint on the ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, the cast of The Chase nonetheless have “one great fear” – the departure of host Bradley Walsh.
“As far as I can tell, he still loves doing The Chase,” she said. “That is our one great fear, that he is not going to want to do it, but he seems to love it.”
