The Chase's Bradley Walsh's off-air demand to players revealed amid 'military operation'

The Chase's Bradley Walsh returned to the helm on the ITV show (Image: ITV)

A contestant on ITV's The Chase has opened up about his time on the popular ITV show - including an unusual encounter with host Bradley Walsh.

Tom Williamson, a computer programmer from Liverpool, was branded one of "the best players ever" by Chaser Shaun Wallace. However, he wasn't allowed to use the show host's full name.

The cash prize hopeful claimed he and his fellow contestants had a "little speech" from Bradley, during which he insisted they all address him by a different name. Declaring that "Bradley is too formal", he asked to be called Brad instead.

While Tom might have enjoyed informality with Brad, nothing else he experienced was anywhere near as casual. He told Express Online: "When you get there, you learn that it’s pretty much a military operation.

"It’s just so overwhelming. I’d never experienced an atmosphere like it." He joked that the introductory chat each contestant has with Bradley on screen might last for barely a minute, but “has about a year’s worth of preparation behind it".

The Chase contestant Tom Williamson wowed Shaun 'Dark Destroyer' Wallace with his general knowledge (Image: ITV)

He revealed that he was asked to write a "script" detailing what he wanted to say. That was then followed by five probing phone calls with researchers, each one lasting around an hour, to hone how to present him in the most interesting light.

If anything he wanted to talk about was deemed too ordinary, he was required to think again. For example, Tom told the researcher that he'd like to use any prize money he won on a trip to see family members living in the USA.

However, he was knocked back with a brutal retort of "Everyone says that" and told to reconsider his answer. Admitting he'd had "absolutely no time to adjust" to the military-like atmosphere, he was also requested to do his best to "show up the Chaser" on screen.

"If you get a question and you’ve got some knowledge on it, if you give the question knowledge then you’re showing the Chaser up,” he explained.

Despite his initial nerves, he answered a string of tough questions correctly and went on to receive a £60,000 offer from Sean Wallace.

The Chaser confessed during the October 22 show: "Tom, you're probably one of the best players I've ever played against in my 14 years of The Chase."

The Chase airs on weekdays on ITV1 from 5pm or catch up on ITVX.