Welcome to Day 35 of the Wellbeing 9-a-Day blog! Yesterday, I took the chance to reflect on my appearance on Countdown in my quest to become a gameshow legend. In today’s blog, I am going to look back at the third appearance in my gameshow trilogy, my appearance on The Chase.
Chasing Down My Dreams
After the high of Pointless and the low of Countdown, I was optimistic when I received a call from a production assistant on The Chase to ask if I wanted an audition. I had applied months earlier, shortly after appearing on Pointless, but I had assumed that it had gone nowhere.
Thankfully, I was wrong. I arrived at my first in-person audition in good spirits. I performed well throughout, getting most answers right and making jokes where I could. At the end of the audition, I was one of two people asked to stay behind…
I had been shortlisted to appear on the show and would hear back within the year if I was selected to appear on a show.
When the call came, I found out that The Chase was filmed at Elstree Studios, the same place where I had filmed Pointless. I had even shaken Bradley Walsh’s hand on the morning of filming Pointless, after timidly following Jonny’s lead, ‘Can I shake your hand too, please, Bradley?’
I took this as a good omen and made my way to the studio hoping to recapture my Pointless form and claim a second victory.
Caught in the Act
When asked what I wanted to wear, I naturally picked my green shirt, and I was delighted when the costume department agreed. Dressed in my gameshow battle gear, I prepared to go to war with the Chaser, whoever it may be.
After a brief chat with Bradley Walsh, our episode began to film. We did our introductions and then the first contestants stepped up to face the Chaser…
Out came Shaun Wallace, The Dark Destroyer, and he promptly caught her in their head-to-head.
I stepped up next, ready for my cashbuilder. After telling Bradders of my desire to spend my winnings following in Richard Sharpe’s Napoleonic footsteps from Portugal to Belgium, I prepared to answer his questions.
I got six questions right in the minute, but the highlight of my performance was a joke answer I had wanted to give since finding out I would be on the show…
Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. I answered six questions in my head-to-head against Shaun Wallace, getting three right and three wrong. Shaun got all six correct and knocked me out.
For all three wrong answers, I had narrowed the three options to two, going the wrong way each time. To make matters worse, my two teammates progressed to the final, and I watched from backstage as Shaun proceeded to collapse, getting multiple answers wrong and gifting them the victory.
Though I had succeeded in appearing on my third channel in my green shirt, my appearance on The Chase has become a story of what might have been for me.
It is what is known in the Hero’s Journey as the Ordeal, or the ‘Belly of the Whale.’ This is the part of the journey where the Hero fails and feel like there is no route to success.
Think about any great movie or story. Around halfway through, there is normally a moment where you watch and think, ‘They aren’t going to make it!’
This is an experience that you have gone through on every Hero’s Journey. It is when everything seems to be falling apart, where you feel like you can’t go on, and that the world is falling apart.
Well, to put it in context… that’s how I felt during and after the show.
Call to Action!
Think back to the key journeys that you have made in life. Can you pinpoint those moments where it all seemed like it was falling apart? Those were necessary moments on the Hero’s Journey, but whilst you were travelling through them, they probably felt awful. Give them some thought and try to recognise that the Hero cannot be successful without going into the belly of the whale first.
This blog was written as part of a 90-day blog writing fundraiser for Live Well with Cancer, a volunteer-led charity serving North Tyneside and the surrounding areas. If you enjoyed this blog, please show your appreciation by donating to my JustGiving page. Every penny raised from donations or sales of the journal will help deliver workshops, events and support groups that empower better health and wellbeing for those affected by cancer, including family, friends, carers, and healthcare workers.
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