The Chasers were heavily beaten on Monday night (Picture: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)
BBC presenter Rick Edwards left viewers at home stunned and proud as he confidently Beat the Chasers to win a ginormous cash prize for charity on Monday.
The BBC Radio 5 Live host was last up on a night that had already seen Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt and Irish comedian Neil Delamere fall short of their targets.
But as Rick stepped up, the six Chasers – The Menace, The Governess, The Sinnerman, The Beast, The Vixen, and The Dark Destroyer – quietly remarked to each other that Rick was ‘very smart’.
They didn’t heed their own warnings.
After securing £4,000 on his cash builder questions, Rick was offered the chance to go for the big money, and he accepted the challenge of trying to win £120,000 for a whale and dolphin conservation charity.
However, in order to do that, he needed to answer as many questions as he could in 60 seconds, ensuring that his clock didn’t count down to zero – and he had to do it against five of The Chasers.
Rick Edwards faced off against five Chasers for the cash prize (Picture: ITV)
The Chasers gave themselves 42 seconds to beat Rick, hoping that Rick’s clock would tick down before theirs did – they’d already beaten four other celebrities on the night.
Despite facing up to the Chasers alone, Rick answered several of his questions correctly while The Chasers were left stumped, running out of time while Rick still had time to spare.
12 seconds were left on Rick’s clock while the Chasers were unable to answer questions about the origin of the name given to fascinator hats – it proved to be costly further down the line.
Rick was given a huge hug by Bradley Walsh after winning (Picture: ITV)
Bradley couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed (Picture: ITV)
It all meant that Rick took home £120,000, which he’ll be donating to the whale and dolphin charity he named as he came onto the stage – it’s the joint biggest prize in Beat the Chasers history.
ITV viewer Ash said on X: ‘Fantastic result! So pleased for Rick and his charity. £120k win at the end is amazing and it is thoroughly deserved after that textbook performance.’
Seanie Downward-Quigley, watching on, commented: ‘Huge congrats Rick on winning a massive £120,000 for your chosen charity on tonight’s Beat the Chasers. You’ve played really well and well done.’
Rick was described as ‘very smart’ by the Chasers (Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty)
‘Thaaaaaanks, Riiiiick’ said the whales… probably… (Picture: Getty)
Another user, @Survivinthe20s, said: ‘I just knew Rick Edwards would win, the guy is super intelligent and all-round great guy, fully deserves the win. He’s Chaser level intelligent.’
The only other time £120,000 has been won on the show was back in March 2021 when EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson beat the chasers in another celeb special to take him the six-figure sum.
Shaun had 15 seconds left on his clock as the audience cheered his big win.
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Rick started his work in the media as part of the team at XFM before he started presenting on E4. He later covered the Paralympics in 2012 for Channel 4.
Since then, he has worked for both the BBC and ITV and, in 2021, fronted BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast coverage after Nicky Campbell moved to a later slot in the day.
His appearance on Beat the Chasers isn’t the first time he’s backed environmentally-focused charities, having been a champion for green organisation Global Cool as far back as 2010.
Watch Beat the Chasers on ITV and ITVX.
