The Chase's Mark Labbett mortified as he gets 'primary school' maths question wrong

17 February 2021, 11:06 | Updated: 17 February 2021, 11:36

'The Beast' leaves Bradley Walsh giggling as the former maths teacher gets wrong answer

Alice Dear

By Alice Dear

Bradley Walsh was left giggling after Mark Labbett confessed he did not know what a composite number was.

The Chase's Mark Labbett was left embarrassed during Monday afternoon's episode when he got a maths question wrong.

Mark – better known as The Beast on the show – is a former maths teacher, but admitted he has "never heard" of composite numbers.

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Mark Labbett shocked The Chase viewers after failing to answer a maths question correctly
Mark Labbett shocked The Chase viewers after failing to answer a maths question correctly. Picture: ITV

The Chaser was up against contestant Sarah, who moved on to face Mark after earning £4,000 in the cash builder.

During their head-to-head, they were met with the question: "In maths, what is the first composite number?"

The options were two, four and six.

Sarah, 39, guessed the incorrect answer of two after admitting maths was not her strength.

Contestant Sarah couldn't believe her luck as Mark got the question wrong
Contestant Sarah couldn't believe her luck as Mark got the question wrong. Picture: ITV

Bradley and the rest of the contestants were sure Mark would get the answer right, but were left shocked when he also answered two.

A mortified Mark told Bradley, who was relishing in his failed answer: "And the answer is in my on-and-off 20 odd years teaching maths, I've never, ever heard the term."

He added to Bradley: "However, you’re just enjoying the fact I got it wrong."

Bradley Walsh couldn't contain his amusement when Mark got the question wrong
Bradley Walsh couldn't contain his amusement when Mark got the question wrong. Picture: ITV

People on Twitter were quick to call Mark out, with some claiming the term is taught in Primary Schools.

One person wrote: "Beast hasn’t heard of composite numbers… really?"

Another posted: "Can’t believe you got a maths question wrong."

Mark admitted he had never heard of 'composite numbers'
Mark admitted he had never heard of 'composite numbers'. Picture: ITV

During the episode, Mark tweeted to his fans: "So composite numbers are the new way of describing non-prime numbers? Something new to learn :) #thechase."

Many people were quick to defend him, and admitted they also had not known what composite numbers are.

If you're still not sure, the definition for a composite number is: "Composite numbers can be defined as the whole numbers that have more than two factors. Whole numbers that are not prime are composite numbers, because they are divisible by more than two numbers."

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