“He was the kindest, cleverest, most humble man I ever knew”
16:45, 27 Aug 2025Updated 17:25, 27 Aug 2025
Tim McCarthy passed away from terminal cancer in July
A Greater Manchester pub is set to be packed out by locals for the airing of an episode of The Chase, starring a local resident who sadly died before it aired.
Tim McCarthy was a super-fan of the ITV show and finally got to star as a contestant for an episode which was filmed in October last year.
The 64-year-old sadly passed away from terminal cancer in July – and his episode of the Chase is set to air today at 5pm (August 27).
His widow Rachel McCarthy told the Manchester Evening News how much Tim loved quizzes.
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“He always loved them, he was on the quiz team at our local pub,” she said. “He loved using his brain. Every day at five o’clock, we had to have the TV on.”
Tim’s friends and family are set to pack out his beloved local, The Colliers in Tyldesley, for an airing of his episode, which Rachel says will be a ‘celebration of life’ for him.
“I think we will be spilling out onto the street,” she said. “All our street are coming, and he had so many friends – there was two hundred people at our funeral.
“We have relatives all over the country, in Harrogate, Brighton, Eastbourne, who knew him and are holding their own celebrations in pubs there.”
Tim McCarthy was a regular at quiz nights at his local pub(Image: UGC)
With the outcome of the show remaining a secret, Tim’s friends and family are keen to find out how he did. Only Rachel and the couple’s three children have been clued in.
“Not even his brother knows how he did,” Rachel said. “I think everyone’s on tenterhooks to find out – he made us promise not to tell anyone either.
“He knew at the time of filming that he had terminal cancer. He’d been told he only had six to nine months to live but he was so happy and excited when he got in.
“He had to do all the trials on the phone and for someone usually so laid back, he was so excited. He absolutely loved it.”
Tim enjoyed a long career working as a teacher, progressing through the ranks and eventually becoming head teacher at Avondale High School in Cheadle Heath, which later became Stockport Academy.
He then went to work abroad, starting schools in the Middle East and India as the founding CEO of the Aurora Academies Trust, before returning to the UK and working as an educational consultant.
“He described it as ‘giving back’ to education,” said Rachel. The couple met 36 years ago and had been married for 31.
“He was the kindest, cleverest, and most humble man I ever knew,” she continued.
“It will be hard and emotional watching the episode, but I’m hoping it will be the best viewing figures they’ve had in a while.”
Tributes have abounded on social media, with Lisa Tootell describing Tim on Facebook as the ‘best teacher ever’ and ‘a wonderful man’.
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Jen Headey wrote that she would be ‘gathering around her set’ to watch her ‘very good friend Tim battle it out with the Chasers’. “I miss your bear hugs, your laugh and even your Manc accent. Be good to hear it again even if it’s in the past tense,” she wrote.”We love and miss you Tim.”