Mark Labbett explains keeping one topic his ‘kryptonite’ on The Chase

The Chase: Mark Labbett fumes as he gets question wrong

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Mark Labbett, 57, has graced TV screens as a Chaser on the ITV game show since 2009. Since then, he has impressed legions of fans with his vast knowledge in a range of subjects. Chatting to Express.co.uk, Mark explained that he is “pretty much” an expert in all topics, but admitted that he deliberately keeps one as his “kryptonite”.

He said: “I cover pretty much everything and you work on your weaknesses, a bit like any professional sportsperson.  

“Obviously, your strengths are your strengths but you also cover your weaknesses or they will be exploited if you don’t.  

“Food and drink, I love eating it, but I’m not very good at cooking it, so I had to do a lot of work on that one and learn my terms.”

Mark explained that this topic is particularly tricky when he is competing in quizzes across the world, particularly in the United States.

He continued: “In America, they are not so keen on a curry house but there are an awful lot of questions on Vietnamese cuisine, Korean cuisine, Hawaiian cuisine, Mexican obviously – LA is virtually the second home of Mexican cuisine and it’s lovely – so you’ve got to put the effort in.

“Having said that, I deliberately keep one area weak and that’s soap operas because, as I modestly put it, Superman needs kryptonite.

“There has got to be a topic that when it comes up, Bradley starts capering around because he knows I don’t know it and the contestants go, ‘Hey, we know he doesn’t know this!’  

“Having said that, if my job depended on it, I would close that gap in a couple of weeks, but we need that vulnerability.

“If we were just unstoppable, both Paul and I have had seasons where we have virtually not lost and we joke about it that if we get much better, they are going to fire us!  

“Ultimately, if they know you are going to win every game then the British public will stop watching. We need to be vulnerable and we need to be beatable.”

When asked why he decided that soap operas would be the subject he would leave as his “kryptonite”, Mark explained that it is because there is simply too much material to learn.

He added: “There’s just too much time involved, look at Coronation Street and Emmerdale, how many hours a week of new shows are there?  

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“Classic subjects like history, geography, science and literature, once you have learned them, they are pretty much there, they don’t change very much.  

“Whereas, subjects like sport and soap operas, every week there is tonnes of new stuff so it is a constant battle to stay up to date.”

It comes after Mark joined his fellow Chaser, Anne Hegerty, as they teamed up with Gala Bingo to launch the Cup of Tea experience over the weekend.

The free experience encourages guests to play some bingo, grab a cup of tea, a slice of cake and get the opportunity to meet The Chasers.
 
Mark Labbett joined consumers this weekend at Gala Bingo’s Hot Air Balloon Tea Rooms, inspired by iconic bingo call, number 3 Cup of Tea, which brought people together through their love of bingo, and where a little joy goes a long way.

You can find out more here.

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