The Beast stumped by Limmud question on ITV’s The Chase

The Chase star Mark Labbett was left stumped in the final moments of the ITV quiz show this week when confronted with something he had never heard of before: Limmud.

Labbett, who is nicknamed “The Beast” for his fearsome frame and general knowledge, was thrown when host Bradley Walsh asked him: “The charity Limmud is associated with what religion?”

He needed to answer the question correctly to have any hope of preventing his rival team of four from walking away with a £20,000 prize.

But Labbett hesitated before venturing: “Islam”.

Limmud, a British-Jewish educational charity that organises an acclaimed annual winter learning festival over the Christmas and New Year period, said Labbett was welcome to brush up on his Jewish general knowledge at its next pub quiz.

The incorrect answer meant the question was thrown to his rivals, who deliberated for a few seconds.

One team member suggested the word sounded like Hebrew, leading to them agree on the correct answer, Judaism.

Labbett later tweeted: “I have only picked up my basic knowledge of Judaism through osmosis and living and working in North London.

“In my day RE was overwhelmingly Christian.”

A question producer for The Chase told Jewish News: “On the show we go through literally hundreds of thousands of questions and the world of general knowledge is a huge one.

“Mark didn’t know the answer, obviously, but there is a linguistic clue in the name of Limmud, which ends the same way as several well known Hebrew names, such as Likud, or Talmud.

“He didn’t pick up on it, but one of the other Chasers might easily have done.”

Limmud welcomed the reference with a jokey comment on its Facebook page: “You know you’ve hit the big time when you get a shout-out on The Chase.

“The Beast is welcome to come along to our next event and brush up on his Jewish general knowledge — there’s a place reserved at the famous Limmud Pub Quiz.”