One player on The Chase infuriated viewers and left host Bradley Walsh surprised by his unexpected move

The Chase’s Bradley Walsh could only respond with one word as a player left him gobsmacked. The presenter welcomed Carina, Susan, Jacob and Paul onto Thursday’s instalment of the programme, which originally hit screens in 2022. Carina was the first player to take on Mark Labbett, but she was quickly sent home after getting caught by The Beast. Librarian Susan, 57, stepped up next and raised an impressive £6,000 in her cash builder.

She sailed through to the final, with Jacob hoping to follow in her footsteps. Despite being just 21-years-old, Jacob showcased his extremely impressive knowledge, answering seven questions correctly in his opening round. Before going head-to-head with The Beast, Jacob was presented with three different offers of £50,000, his original £6,000 and the low offer of £1,000. Both of his teammates urged him to take either the high or middle offer, but Jacob had other ideas as he simply declared: “£1,000.”

A stunned Bradley couldn’t believe what he was hearing as he turned back to the contestant and exclaimed: “One?”

As Jacob told the presenter he wanted to get back to the team, the camera panned to a grinning Mark. “Wow, that was quick,” Bradley lamented.

Players regularly come under fire for taking the low offer, but Mark opted to defend Jacob.

“He’s a 21-year-old student. Put a grand in his pocket right now and he thinks he’s rich. Don’t blame him,” the chaser said.

But those watching at home weren’t so forgiving as they flocked to social media to slam Jacob’s decision. One furious fan wrote: “Little tramp going for 1K.”

Bradley Walsh was left stunned by one player’s choice (Image: ITV)

“Of course he went for the low offer,” added a second as a third raged: “F’n coward. Staggering.”

Despite Jacob making it through to the final chase, viewers couldn’t let their anger go.

“Wipe that smirk of your face Jacob nothing to be proud off taking £1000,” one viewer claimed while another agreed: “Well done for being a coward.”

Paul was hoping to add to the prize pot, but was caught by Mark after taking the high offer of £63,000. This meant the final chase was only played by Susan and Jacob, who ended on a score of 13.

This was no match for Mark as he caught the duo with 48 seconds remaining.