Bradley Walsh is the much-loved host of The Chase. Photo / ITV
Bradley Walsh is the much-loved host of The Chase. Photo / ITV
Bradley Walsh, host of the popular game show The Chase, has left viewers concerned after appearing to “struggle” while presenting a recent episode.
The TV host appeared on Wednesday night’s episode, introducing four new aspiring trivia buffs to Mark “The Beast” Labbett. The contestants answered several questions in the hopes of gaining a cash prize and beating Labbett - but many viewers were more worried about Walsh’s apparent condition than whether or not the answers were right.
Following the episode, many of them took to social media to point out that Walsh appeared to struggle to speak during the show, as he was clearly battling a sore throat. “Brad needing a Fisherman’s Friend again,” one commented, while others worried it could be a more serious condition.
“Is Brad’s voice okay? He sounds unwell again,” another pointed out, referencing an episode from earlier this year during which Walsh previously struggled to speak while presenting the show.
Last year, Walsh opened up about his other health struggles in a vulnerable interview, admitting he lives with a “seriously bad” eye condition and will one day need surgery.
He told GB News’ Eamonn Holmes: “People don’t realise I have seriously bad blepharitis. I have to take one pill a day for it, or I really struggle. I am going to need my eyes operated on at some point to sort it out. So many times, people have commented on how I look. But they don’t realise. If I take medication though, I’m fine.”
Elsewhere, Walsh has spoken about his struggle with cholesterol levels in 2020, describing his health at the time as a “time bomb”.
“I was quite lucky in regard to the calcium test, but my doctor said I produce too much cholesterol. It’s a silent killer. I thought, ‘Oh crikey, I’m gonna be bang in trouble here if I don’t lose the weight and start dealing with this’,” he said.
Walsh, who works as an actor as well as a TV host, has a busy work schedule, hosting The Chase and set to host the reboot of UK TV show Gladiators as well. He also travels around the world with his son Barney to film their TV show Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad, with the fifth season of the show set for release in January 2023.
Bradley Walsh "stormed off" after a contestant on The Chase got a wrong answer. Photo / ITV
He told This Morning of filming the show: “It’s made me feel like I’ve got heart palpitations and a bit sick watching it now, I actually haven’t seen that. When they said we were doing the Via Ferrata, I thought that was the place we were visiting.
“Via Ferrata means iron bridge and what it is is solid plates stuck up this sheer mountain face and it’s probably, I don’t know, a thousand metres up. I couldn’t even get off the bridge at the bottom, I hated it. It’s extraordinary... the feeling of dread when I’m there.
“And the drop is literally, I mean it wasn’t a clear day so you can’t get the gravity of it, the mist was so frightening you couldn’t see the floor below you but it’s a thousand metres up.”
