Viewers of ITV’s The Chase have branded the show a ‘fix’ after The Beast’s shock win during Sunday’s episode.
After a series of incorrect replies it looked like Chaser, Mark Labbett might lose, until he answered a question correctly in the nick of time, causing the team to lose and walk away without a penny of their £30,000 prize pot.
However, viewers claimed to have seen the timer hit zero before he answered the question, meaning he was out of time and the team should have rightfully won the money.
Dozens of viewers took to Twitter to criticise the win, with one tweeting: ‘That was a fix, it was on zero!’
Teammates Patricia, Marina and Graham had made it to the Final Chase, and answered 21 questions correctly, which The Beast had to beat in order to knock them out of the competition.
He had answered seven questions wrongly, but needed just one more point to beat the team when The Chase’s host Bradley Walsh asked him one final question with just seconds to spare.
Bradley said: ‘Watchmaker Longines was founded in which country?’
The Beast shouted out the correct answer of ‘Switzerland’, which then knocked the team out of the game and took away their winnings.
Dozens of viewers took to Twitter to criticse the win and call it a ‘fix’ in favour of The Beast (pictured), with one tweeting: ‘That was a fix it was on zero!’
A breathless Bradley said: ‘Yes! Just in time. Switzerland. A split second, caught. I tell you what guys, it doesn’t get any closer than that.’
However, viewers claimed that the countdown had already hit zero when The Beast had given his answer.
One tweeted: ‘100% CHASER LOST!!!! #TheChase what a fix!!!! £30k !!!!! WENT ZERO before the answer [sic].’
‘Well that was a ridiculous fix. #justiceforgraham,’ another posted.
A third posted: ‘How wrong today, the beast hadn’t finished answering the question yet they let hime have it? When Bradley is asking questions if they haven’t finished answering before the time runs out there not given it!! What a fix [sic].’
Another wrote: ‘#TheChase is a fix!!! The countdown was over but apparently he got the answer on time! If it was the other way around the guests wouldn’t have been in time. #ITV sort it out.’
The show’s host Bradley Walsh (pictured) said ‘it doesn’t get any closer than that’ after The Beast had won, despite viewers’ saying that the timer had already run out
Teammates Patricia, Marina and Graham (pictured) looked disappointed with their loss and walked away without a penny of the £30,000 they’d earned throughout the game
MailOnline has contacted ITV and is awaiting comment.
Even The Beast appeared to be shocked by his win, telling the team they ‘deserved’ to win.
He said: ‘You didn’t deserve to lose, I’m really sorry guys. You were superb.’
This isn’t the first time viewers have accused The Chase of being fixed because of a problem with the timer during the Final Chase.
Earlier this year viewers claimed that The Chase had been fixed for Chaser Anne Hegerty, accusing them of slowing down the clock so she could answer one final question and knock the contestant out of the game
Viewers claimed the show was ‘rigged’ and said the timer had stayed on one second for a long time, which resulted in the contestant losing out on £50,000. The show denied this and said it had been checked by ‘independent adjudicators’
Earlier this year Chaser Anne Hegerty – who goes by the name The Governess -answer a question with a second left to spare, beating contestant Maggie and taking away the £50,000 she’d earned.
Viewers claimed that it was a ‘fix’, arguing the clock was stopped and that host Bradley Walsh had asked the Chaser’s questions ‘more quickly’.
Representatives for show denied that the result had been fixed in its favour, saying it had been checked by an ‘independent adjudicator’