Shaun Wallace shocks The Chase with a record £103,000 offer to Sarah Millican

A £103,000 offer from Shaun Wallace left both the studio and viewers at home stunned when Sarah Millican took on The Chase in a celebrity special.

The comedian had built up £7,000 in the Cash Builder, putting her in a position to choose between a safer £3,000, her original £7,000, or a remarkable £103,000.

Sarah Millican faced an extraordinary choice

The episode, which aired on Sunday 30 April, featured a celebrity line-up that included dog trainer Graeme Hall, British space scientist Margaret Aderin-Pocock, television presenter Ortis Deley and comedian Sarah Millican.

The celebrities were competing for charity, and Millican had already secured an impressive £7,000 during her Cash Builder.

Then came the moment that caught everyone’s attention.

When it was time for Wallace to make his offer, Millican was given three choices: drop down to £3,000, stay with the £7,000 she had earned, or take the enormous £103,000 on offer.

The figure immediately caused a stir in the studio.

Wallace explained that it was the highest offer he had ever made on Celebrity Chase.

Millican chose the £3,000 option

Despite having the chance to play for more than £100,000, Millican decided to take the lowest offer.

Her priority was to make it through her individual chase and return to the team for the Final Chase, where the celebrities would have a chance to build their collective prize.

The decision meant that the team ultimately had £100,000 to play for in the final round.

But Millican’s performance became a talking point for another reason.

During her individual round, viewers became increasingly frustrated by how quickly she appeared to pass on questions rather than attempting an answer.

One viewer wrote: “#TheChase Fsk Sarah, stop passing and guess!!”

Another complained that Millican was passing too quickly and argued that she should at least have attempted some of the questions, as her teammates might have known the answers had they been given the opportunity.

Other viewers were similarly exasperated, with comments including “She drove me mad!”, “Has Sarah Millican never heard of guessing?”, and “Stop bloody passing Sarah!!”

One viewer even dubbed her “Millican the queen of pass” in a post about the episode.

The celebrities ultimately left empty-handed

In the end, the concerns from viewers did not change the outcome. The celebrity team failed to bring the £100,000 back from the Final Chase and left without the prize.

For Millican, the decision to take £3,000 rather than risk the £103,000 had at least been made with the aim of getting back to the team and giving the group a chance in the final round.

Wallace’s offer, meanwhile, remained the standout moment of the episode.

At the time, the £103,000 figure represented the highest offer Wallace had made on Celebrity Chase.

How Wallace’s offer compared with other The Chase records

Although Wallace’s £103,000 offer was a personal record on the celebrity edition, it was not the largest offer ever made by a Chaser.

That distinction belonged to the Vixen, Jenny Ryan, who offered Blue singer Duncan James £139,000 in November 2017. James accepted the offer, although his team ultimately failed to win the Final Chase.

The biggest celebrity win mentioned in connection with the show came in 2018, when Countdown star Rachel Riley and presenter Kirsty Gallacher won £160,000 for Soccer Aid after successfully beating Shaun Wallace in the Final Chase.

That victory gave the celebrity version of The Chase one of its most memorable charity prizes, while the 30 April episode provided a very different headline moment: Wallace putting an extraordinary £103,000 on the table and Sarah Millican choosing to walk away from it in favour of the £3,000 option.