The Chase star Shaun Wallace, aka The Dark Destroyer, is in New Zealand for a series of charity events. Photo / Dean Purcell
The extraordinarily popular Chase star Shaun Wallace walks into a New Zealand bar ... and joins a pub quiz team. Editor at large Shayne Currie reports from the team’s inner sanctum.
In a packed New Plymouth hotel conference room on a cold New Zealand winter’s night this week, a man in a wheelchair moved closer to the stage to get a better view of The Chase TV star Shaun Wallace.
A few minutes later, Wallace - having miscued his chair - tumbled off the small stage at the charity event and into the man in the wheelchair.
The fan can forever say he caught a Chaser - literally.
“I was quite lucky,” says Wallace, 64, adding that neither he nor the ‘catcher’ was hurt.
For Wallace, aka The Dark Destroyer, this was not - as he likes to sign off at the end of The Chase TV show - “just another day at the office”.
And it came on an already eventful few weeks - even ahead of his visit to New Zealand, where he has drawn hundreds of fans to charity events over the past week, and engaged with just about every one of them.
“I do a lot of exercise and training,” says Wallace.
“Just before I came to New Zealand, I was riding my bike [in London] and there was a long traffic queue. I went on to the zebra crossing and some lady in a Mini Cooper decided that she couldn’t wait, did an illegal turn and almost crashed into me.
“For me to avoid her, I flipped over on my bike and landed on my right shoulder. I’ve been in agony ever since.”
When the motorist saw who she’d essentially taken out, she burst into tears.
In considerable pain, Wallace ended up having to console her.
Wallace is relating the two stories as we sit side by side at The Empire tavern in central Auckland on Tuesday evening, competing together in a team in the weekly Believe It Or Not pub quiz.
Believe It Or Not founder Brendan Lochead organised for Wallace to surprise pub patrons in between a full schedule of charity events, and visits across New Zealand including to Queenstown, Dunedin, New Plymouth, Hamilton and Kerikeri.
Wallace, myself, my wife Marilynn and the family of Lochead - his wife Annabelle and their two teenagers Harrison and Sophie - have formed a team.
It’s a superb PR move but we’ve endured a somewhat abysmal first round.
At such an early stage, our team, The Dark Destroyers - what else could we be called - is second to last of 14 groups, with a measly four points out of 10, having got the first six answers wrong.
We didn’t correctly answer the top Spotify streaming songs of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Six60, Chappell Roan, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, and Shania Twain. (As The Chase TV host Bradley Walsh might say, have you got what it takes to outrun the chaser? Answers below).
Our team agrees later that settling into the quiz - with Wallace the centre of attention of quiz competitors and an NZ Herald videographer - took some time.
Brendan Lochead, acting as quizmaster tonight, is not shy in letting the Empire crowd know about our first-round form.
“Thanks, Brendan!” yells Wallace.
But we nail the top songs for the next four musicians/groups - Prince, Benee, Billy Joel and Abba - and we’re away.
“We’re off the mark!” says Wallace, champion quizzer, television superstar and now team motivator.
This is Wallace’s fourth visit to New Zealand - he’s been here to raise money for various charities at special quiz evenings around the country, including Mike King’s I am Hope charity and the Louise Davie Charitable Trust.
His is a naturally curious mind, and he is intrigued by the place. He says he would have visited more often had it not been for Covid.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I was always fascinated by the fact that New Zealand was a place on the other side of the world, and I always wanted to visit it.
“In 2019, I got the opportunity to do so and I’ve just loved it ever since.”
Part of that love stems from the way he interacts with Kiwis. He’s treated like a rock star, and he treats people like rock stars in return.
The Chase is a ratings phenomenon for TVNZ and aside from host Bradley Walsh, Wallace is arguably its most recognisable and engaging character.
Before the Empire pub quiz on Tuesday - an event that was not on his official calendar - Wallace purposely introduced himself to every other quiz team, shaking hands, a quick chat. They had little clue he’d be there.
“I need to suss out the opposition,” he laughs.
That naturally curious mind.
We’re into the second round of the Empire pub quiz and we’re already playing one of our two jokers, meaning every correctly answered question is worth two points.
It’s the science and nature round - one of Wallace’s strengths - and we correctly answer seven of the 10 questions, including the number for a neutral Phd level (7), the technical name for the tailbone (the coccyx) and what kind of animal is an Alaskan malamute (a dog).
We miss out on the colour of the Hope diamond (blue), the name of the philosophical study of being in metaphysics (ontology), and the largest species of monkey in the world (the mandrill).
But our 14 points catapults us into third equal spot - albeit with a joker played.
Wallace has virtually not stopped since his arrival in New Zealand a week ago, flying directly to Queenstown from Auckland for the first of six official charity events.
He and Lochead attended the first New Zealand-England rugby test in Dunedin last Saturday. Wallace is a massive All Blacks fan.
“Funny story,” Lochead tells the Empire crowd, explaining how he organised for Wallace to be transferred back to his hotel in Dunedin after the test, while he and Annabelle returned by foot.
“When we got back to the hotel, I walked past Shaun’s room and put my ear to the door to make sure everything was OK. I could hear the TV was on,” says Lochead.
Lochead had a key for the room and checked in on him.
“There he is on the edge of the bed, his eyes glued to the TV. He’s watching Grease the movie.”
Wallace chips in with what he told Lochead: “I love it bruv. It’s a classic. Come and watch it with me bruv.”
That naturally curious mind.
Wallace still spends two hours a day swotting up - he usually watches quiz shows on YouTube, for contemporary questions and answers.
“You’ve got to practise a lot,” Wallace told The Listener ahead of his New Zealand trip.
“You have to do a lot of reading in relation to general knowledge. And simply turn up to as many pub quizzes as you possibly can. Practice makes perfect, I always say. Yesterday, I went to my usual Tuesday night pub quiz, I’m hosting another one tonight. For me, pub quizzes are a way of life, and it’s a great way to interact with people, test your knowledge, a bit of showing off.”
On Tuesday, we’re witness to a little bit of showing off.
Wallace has left the table for a few minutes, and returns to find a slightly panicked team. We have a list of about four questions for a round already under way.
“Cleopatra died in 30BC,” he says off the bat, as we ask him whether she died in 30AD is true or false.
By the end of the fourth round, we’re back on track - eight and nine points respectively in the Sport and Believe it or Not (true/false) rounds.
But we’re also messing up two special rounds - it’s taken us too much time and too many clues to correctly identify the retailer H&M and we could name only six songs by Christina Aguilera that have made the New Zealand top 40 (out of a potential 22).
And so with four rounds to go, we’re fifth equal, among a cluster of teams mid-table.
“We’re not going too good. Maybe I’ll put my thinking cap on,” Wallace says, reaching for his cheesecutter.
“There is always time to turn it around. We have still got a great squad - let’s see how we go.”
The key to success in any quiz team is diversity of age and experience - Annabelle, Marilynn and the two teenagers are certainly providing their fair share of answers.
Everyone receives a fist pump from Wallace when they supply a correct answer.
In one of the rounds, Marilynn recognises the image of an author and is trying to desperately retrieve their name.
“Take your time, take your time, take your time,” implores Wallace.
She remembers. Malcolm Gladwell.
“Write it down, write it down, write it down,” says a very happy Wallace.
“I think he wants you to write it down,” says Lochead.
She gets it right and earns a fist pump.
Wallace is still a fully practising criminal barrister in London and films The Chase in between court work.
Now into his 17th season on The Chase, he joined the show as one of two chasers, alongside Mark Labbett, when it started in 2009. The other four chasers have joined the circus over that time.
Wallace was already a familiar face to British television viewers, having won Mastermind in 2004 with his specialist topic in the final being FA Cup football finals.
There will be 160 episodes filmed for this latest Chase season; they are generally shared evenly between the six chasers.
“It was always important to actually keep my [legal] career going because although the show is extremely popular and phenomenal, the one thing I never take for granted is the fact that I’m going to get another contract or ITV will commission the show,” Wallace told I am Hope’s Mike King last month.
“So I’m only as good as my last closing speech as a lawyer and I’m only as good as the last question I answer correctly as a Chaser. I never, ever take things for granted.”
Wallace tells me that the chasers all get on very well.
“There’s no airs or graces or egos amongst us because otherwise it wouldn’t work if you had factions and cliques. I think the phenomenal success of the show is that you’ve got a wonderful host who’s really witty, funny.
“All the various Chase franchises around the world try to replicate a Bradley, but there’s only one Bradley Walsh.”
Our host tonight, Brendan Lochead, is close mates with Wallace, ever since his first trip to New Zealand in 2019.
Wallace stays with the Locheads when he’s in Auckland. He caught a quick nap in their spare room ahead of his visit to the Empire.
That rested mind has certainly come to our rescue for the second half of the quiz, although he does admonish himself for not recognising the president of Ethiopia. “Oh Shaun you should have got that!”
The final four rounds turn out to be far more fruitful, with eight out of 10 for each of the TV and Cinema, Geography and New Stuff rounds and nine out of 10 for our second joker round, Pot Luck.
We end up with 89 points, clawing our way into fourth equal spot. Tonight’s winners are Babe 2: Quiz in the city (2024 edition).
That first round was a killer.
For Wallace, this has been another day at the office, albeit an unsuccessful one.
The Louise Davie Charitable Trust’s Steve Davie was with Wallace in Dunedin earlier in the week. He says Wallace’s engagement with people was unlike anything he’s ever seen in more than 40 years of sports broadcasting, event management and charity fundraising.
None of it is contrived, says Davie. “He was phenomenal. Young and old flock to him. He was so genuine with them.”
It was, he said, a privilege to be in his company.
That’s certainly also the feeling as we depart the Empire on Tuesday night.
Wallace has a couple of other appointments this week.
He’ll be back at Eden Park tonight, cheering on the All Blacks, and at Sky City in Auckland from 3pm on Sunday afternoon for his final charity event. (Tickets can be found here).
He does have one other appointment before he heads home on Monday - the Euros final, featuring his beloved England football team playing Spain.
“I think most people on the third floor on the Novotel Hamilton on Thursday morning were awoken by Shaun yelling passionately at the telly [for England’s semifinal win against the Netherlands] … especially when the winning goal went in,” says Lochead.
An England win in the final on Monday would be an extraordinary day at the office.
The answers to those first round questions: The top Spotify streaming songs for each of these groups/individuals: Red Hot Chili Peppers (Californication); Six60 (Don’t Forget Your Roots); Chappell Roan (Good Luck, Babe!); Fleetwood Mac (Dreams); Metallica (Enter Sandman); Shania Twain (Man! I Feel Like a Woman!); Prince (Purple Rain); Benee (Supalonely); Billy Joel (Uptown Girl); Abba (Dancing Queen)
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.
His ratings have probably improved since the CCO reforms, says the mayor.