On first impressions, Mark Labbett, the formidably intelligent professional quizzer on ITV‘s hit game show, The Chase, might not seem like your typical Lothario.
An ungainly 6ft 7in and known as ‘The Beast’ on account of his staggering IQ of 151 and surname (Labbett sounds like ‘la bête’, French for ‘the beast’), he has however become embroiled in a love triangle so complicated – and toxic – it would make even the most accomplished quizmaster’s head spin.
In 2020, Labbett, now aged 59, called off his seven-year marriage to his second cousin Katie, 27 years his junior and the mother of his seven-year-old son Lawrence.
And following the high-profile split (the pair are yet to formally divorce), the TV star – who once weighed 29 stone – went on to date Sky TV presenter Hayley Palmer, 43.
Then he brutally dumped her during a three-minute phone call in May, days after their one-year anniversary, telling her: ‘I don’t think we should see each other any more. You were right, I don’t want to get a divorce [from Katie].’
Last month, Mark posted a photo to his Instagram page that seems to confirm Hayley’s worst suspicions. In the snap captioned ‘Co-parenting in London‘, he posed with his arm wrapped tenderly around his ex Katie’s shoulders during a day out to the Natural History Museum in London.
In doing so, I can reveal that, according to sources, he has left his ex-girlfriend broken-hearted.
A friend of hers said: ‘Hayley saw the posts and it left her devastated. It was six months since they’d broken up and the posts went everywhere. It led to a lot of people reaching out and it really affected her mental health.
Mark Labbett – known as The Beast on ITV’s The Chase – with his wife Katie in 2017
A slimmed-down Mark last year with his now ex-girlfriend, Sky TV presenter Hayley Palmer
‘She sent Mark a WhatsApp message, which he read but did not reply to. In it she said, ‘Please be mindful of what you are posting on Instagram, as it has an impact on mental health trying to move forward, thank you.’ ‘
But she is still waiting for a reply from the man she had once dubbed ‘my gentle giant’.
Mark this week made a brutal swipe at Hayley in a newspaper interview by implying their year-long relationship was not ‘serious’.
Mark was asked about his marriage to Katie and why he had yet to divorce her. He replied: ‘It will happen if either Katie or I get with someone serious — then it might obviously be a different matter.’
The cutting remark was seized upon by furious friends of Hayley.
‘Mark’s comments were totally savage,’ one told me. ‘If their relationship wasn’t serious, as he implied, then why would he lead her to believe that it was?’
‘They’d gone on Loose Women the week before he dumped her [to talk about their relationship]. If it wasn’t that serious as he implied, why would he do that? Hayley truly believed they had a future together and they often spoke about moving in together. He led her up the garden path.
‘He has not thought about her feelings despite the fact that she reached out to him. Hayley has been doing everything she can to heal from the break-up.
Mark got his nickname The Beast on account of his staggering IQ of 151 and that his surname – Labbett – sounds like ‘la bête’, French for ‘the beast’
‘It was very disrespectful what he did and he clearly has no compassion for Hayley given all the hurt he’s caused her.’
That Mark is now a certified heartbreaker is all the more shocking given that the TV star once saw himself as nothing but an ‘overweight maths teacher’ – and confessed in an interview with the Mail in 2022 that he is probably on the autism spectrum. Born in Tiverton, Devon, Mark earned a first-class degree from Exeter College, Oxford, where he read maths, and later became a maths and PE supply teacher in South Wales. But, ever since a stint working at Butlin’s Holiday Park in his youth, it was always quizzing that had Mark’s heart.
He used to supplement his income with winnings from quiz machines – and would research the answers that he got wrong.
In 1996, Mark took part in University Challenge. He reached the quarter-finals as captain of the Glamorgan University team (where he studied postgraduate law).
Then came appearances on Countdown, Channel 5’s BrainTeaser, BBC One’s SUDO-Q, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (twice) – before the The Chase in 2009. The quiz show pits members of the public against professional quizzers – like Mark – known as ‘The Chasers’.
Mark then married Katie, a nurse, in 2014, after they met on Facebook. Mark says they knew, vaguely, that they shared ‘a family connection’. But in an extraordinary twist of fate, three years into their marriage, the pair discovered they were second cousins. Katie’s father and his father had been first cousins.
‘It wasn’t something we were aware of at the time – it was one of those things that happened,’ the Chaser said. Yet the pair decided to put it behind them – until Mark discovered that Katie had embarked on a secret relationship with design engineer Scott Bate.
‘When Katie first came clean to me about her boyfriend, I’d had an inkling,’ the quizzer said at the time. ‘But right from the start, my attitude was quite pragmatic – this was spilled milk, what could we do about the situation to make it OK?’
So instead of breaking up with his cheating wife, he agreed to try an open marriage. But Mark later revealed that life in lockdown led to pressures and created what he termed a ‘perfect storm’. So he decided to leave his wife in 2020 and let her move on with her new younger lover.
It was following the split that Mark lost ten stone – through regular exercise, he says – and revealed his svelte new look on the red carpet of the National Television Awards in September 2022.
It was there that Mark met the statuesque Hayley, who was working as an entertainment journalist. The pair spent time together as friends, before the relationship blossomed into something more romantic and they made it official in May 2023.
Mark is a smooth-talker, known in The Chase for his pithy quips. He charmed Hayley, and her friends claim he assured her he was in the process of getting divorced from Katie. She believed him and they made their long-distance relationship work – he is based in Yorkshire and Hayley lives in London – meeting for romantic dates and exercising at hotel gyms together.
The new couple also made that appearance on ITV’s Loose Women together, where Mark gushed about their relationship. Many friends of the pair were convinced that the loved-up display was a sign that an engagement was in the offing.
But a week later, Hayley shocked fans when she confirmed the pair had split. She wrote: ‘It is with regret I announce that myself and Mark have gone our separate ways. We had the best year together and I truly wish him all the best for the future.’
But her words hid the depths of her sadness. The TV presenter had been dumped by Mark in a 9am phone call just hours before, leaving her in shock.
A friend of Hayley’s said: ‘They’d gone on Loose Women to talk about their one-year anniversary and were so loved up. As far as Hayley was concerned everything was going in the right direction; they even spoke about moving in together.’
The fallout from the break-up has led to friends of the couple questioning whether the relationship was as perfect as it seemed.
And as the unexpected heartbreaker rebuilds bridges with his ex-wife, many fans are asking: what’s next for The Beast’s colourful dating life?
A clue is to be found in the words of one well-placed source who tells me Mark never got over the break-up with Katie: ‘She has always been the love of his life.’
