The Beast admitted it is not often he says it as he broke character
Mark Labbett paid tribute to John Conteh on The Chase(Image: ITV)
The Chase’s Mark Labbett issued an apology to Liverpool legend John Conteh on tonight’s celebrity special. The former light heavyweight champion was one of four celebrities competing for charity on Saturday’s wepisode.
The Scouser appeared on the latest episode of the ITV game show alongside Raj Bisram, Danielle Harold and Roger Black. Bradley Walsh hosted the star studded episodes as the celebrities aimed to win big for their chosen charities.
The players were testing their wits against The Beast as they aimed to progress past the Chaser to win a huge sum for charity. BBC Bargain Hunt star Raj was up first and progressed through to the final Chase with £7,000.
EastEnders star Danielle was next up and she also moved through to the final with an additional £1,000 on to the haul. Conteh was up next as the 74-year-old boxing legend surprised Bradley when he claimed he had been brushing up on his general knowledge ahead of his stint on the show.
The host burst into laughter when John revealed he was only joking, but the boxer fared well in the cash builder as he earned £3,000. Mark broke character from his usual intimidating persona to pay tribute to the boxing legend before their head to head.
He said: “It’s not often I say this, but it’s an honour sir to meet you. Right, that’s the last compliment you’ll get.” The two engaged in a tense head to head as Conteh was just one step away from booking his spot in the Final Chase.
The question was: “What was the occupation of Will Ferrell’s character in the film Zoolander?” The options were designer, agent or make up artist.
Conteh opted for agent, which proved to be the incorrect answer. The Chaser correctly selected designer, but apologised to the boxer as he didn’t know the answer for definite.
He added: “I’d seen a couple of clips, that was all and that seemed the best. But I don’t like to win that way so sorry John.”Roger Black was last up and the 400m runner opted to compete for a huge £112,000.
He sensationally managed to progress into the final with the amount to take the full total to £120,000. It would have been one of the biggest hauls ever in The Chase and the team built up 14 steps in the Final Chase.
However, they were swiftly caught by the Chaser as the Beast matched their steps with 47 seconds remaining. Conteh is a legend in the city as he started boxing at the age of 10 at Kirkby Amateur Boxing Club.
John Conteh appeared on tonight’s edition of The Chase
The club was a training ground for fellow British amateur boxers including Joey Singleton and Tucker Hetherington. Conteh proved his talent from a young age and won a gold medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, aged just 19. He competed professionally from 1971 to 1980 and won the British, Commonwealth and European light heavyweight titles.
He claimed the title of Britain’s first light-heavyweight champion of the world in over 25 years after defeating Jorge Ahumada of Argentina in 1974.
Away from the ring, Conteh became well known for his likeable personality. He was one of the celebrities who featured on Paul McCartney’s 1973 Wings album, Band on the Run.
He also appeared in This Is Your Life in 1974 and BBC programme Sporting Legends which was presented by Eamonn Holmes. He spoke about how his success led to his struggles with alcohol.
The boxer has been open about his alcohol addiction, which had a significant impact on his life and career. He has previously shared that his drinking spiralled out of control and got to a point when he knew he had to make a change.
Since then, Conteh changed his life around and has been involved in numerous charity events. He even dipped his toe into the acting world and his most recent appearance was in crime drama Justice in 2011, in which he played an ex-boxer. In 2017, he was awarded an MBE for services to boxing at the Queen’s Birthday Honours.