The Chaser Mark Labbett is one of the new contestants on the latest series of Celebs Go Dating. The famous quizzer is best known as “The Beast” on ITV game show The Chase.
Mark has taken part in the upcoming series of Celebs Go Dating in the hope of finding love. However, he has revealed he had an unpleasant encounter with one date. Talking to Bang Showbiz, Mark said he could not “wait to get away” from a recent date because he did not find them attractive.
He said: “You never know who you’re going to find someone who you just get on with – that’s the key thing. I won’t say who, but there’s been one situation I’ve met someone and I’m going, ‘I should find them really attractive,’ but instead I can’t wait to get away.”
When asked if the woman was a celebrity, Mark replied “no comment”. Mark has previously had serious relationships and was married to his second cousin Katie Labbett from 2014 until 2020, and then dated TV presenter Hayley Palmer in 2023, before the two split in 2024. Mark has seven-year-old son Lawrence with Katie.
Speaking about another date on the show, Mark, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2017, recalled how one encounter on Celebs Go Dating ended early because he had a hypoglycemia episode. Hypoglycemia is a condition where the glucose levels in the blood drop too low.
He revealed: “One of the evenings, unfortunately, I’m a type two diabetic, I wear a glucose monitor, it went off the scale because [the date] went on too long, I’d eaten the wrong food, I didn’t have my pills with me because I thought we’d be finishing an hour beforehand, and I had a full-on hypoglycemia episode, which meant I got a bit grumpy.”
The 59-year-old previously weighed 29 stone and claimed this meant he struggled to find love. He said: “Prior to being on telly, I would say I’ve gone from being a beta male to an alpha male in that previously, because you were very heavy and very overweight, you didn’t get a lot of dates, which is why I was a single man.
“Suddenly, who knew being on your own TV show means you suddenly get a bit more practice.” He also shared his fear that he would die as a single man.
Mark has now lost 10 stone and explained his weight transformation accelerated during the pandemic. He said: “One positive about COVID-19 was that I was running after my boy during COVID-19 and lost weight.
“And the other thing is, I got what I think was COVID-19 – remember in the early days, you didn’t get tested unless you got so ill, you had to go to hospital. And I was ill, but not like that. And to a certain extent, it switched my appetite off, and it’s never come back.
Mark has been a Chaser on The Chase since 2009 and has become a firm favourite with fans of the ITV quiz show. Fans can watch him on Celebs Go Dating 2025 when it starts on Monday, August 11, at 9pm on E4.