The Chase viewers expressed concern for presenter Bradley Walsh, 64, on Thursday after he appeared on the ITV show with a coarse voice as one said it didn’t ‘sound right’

Bradley Walsh sparked concern among The Chase viewers after appearing on the show with a coarse voice on Thursday.

The 64-year-old TV presenter introduced four contestants to compete against Anne Hegerty, but several fans seemed worried about his well-being rather than the game itself. A fan said Bradley’s voice didn’t “sound right” on the show as others pointed out the host didn’t seem his usual self.

Viewers took to X, formerly called Twitter, to express their concern as one wrote: “Is something wrong with Bradley’s voice?” Someone else replied: “Yep, also came here to say that… I thought we had a different presenter at first.”

Bradley Walsh
Viewers noted that Bradley Walsh’s voice didn’t ‘sound right’ on Thursday ( Image: ITV1)
Another person said: “Poor Bradley’s voice. Doesn’t sound right today.” One more fan tweeted: “What’s going on with Bradley’s voice today? He sounds like he’s let a helium balloon down in his mouth.” And a fifth person wrote on X: “Brad sounds sick I hope he’s ok.”

Bradley has been at the helm of the popular quiz show since it first aired in 2009 and this year celebrated a milestone 15 years of the ITV quiz show. Speaking to the Daily Mail in August, the TV star revealed he would happily do another 15 years on the show, but admitted he would step down if viewers turned on the format.

He said: “Until people say they’ve had enough and start switching off I’ll do it. We’ve had such an extraordinary time together. It’s the best job in the world.” Bradley also shared that he filmed a pilot episode of The Chase back in 2008 with Chasers Shaun ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Wallace and Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett.

Before landing his role on The Chase, the father-of-two had already hosted ITV quiz show No.1 Soap Fan in 2007 and Spin Star in November and December 2008. Reflecting on his early days on The Chase, Bradley, who also hosted TV’s 50 Greatest Stars on ITV, admitted he saw potential in the show during the pilot but was used to quizzes being scrapped.

He recalled: “The audience was made up of ITV bosses and they found someone in the office to be a contestant.” He added: “Straight away I took the contestant’s side. I saw the Chasers as these big, all-knowing, bully types, so I started taking the mickey out of them.

“When they got a question wrong I really gave it to them, and everyone was laughing. That’s when I knew we had something.” Bradley Walsh added: “Normally with a quiz show you’re handcuffed to the format, but this meant I could go off script and improvise.”

He added on to his enthusiasm by saying: “It was like doing stand-up in the middle of a quiz show, which I loved. So right from that very first run-through I thought this could be special.”