At first glance, Mark Labbett, the formidably intelligent professional quizzer on ITV’s hit game show The Chase, might not seem like the typical Lothario.
Standing at an ungainly height of 6ft 1in, he is known as ‘The Beast’ due to his staggering IQ of 151 and surname (Labbett sounds like ‘la bête’, French for ‘the beast’), but he has become embroiled in a love triangle that’s so complicated: and toxic – it would make even the most talented quizmaster’s head spin.
In 2020, Labbett, now 59 years old, ended 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 have yet to formally divorce), the TV star – who once weighed 29 stone – dated Sky TV presenter Hayley Palmer, 43.
He then 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 anymore.” You were right, I don’t want a divorce [from Katie].’
Last month, Mark posted a photo on his Instagram page that seems to confirm Hayley’s worst suspicions. In the short caption ‘Co-parenting in London’ he posed with his arm tenderly wrapped around his ex Katie’s shoulders during a day out at the Natural History Museum in London.
In addition, I can reveal that, according to sources, he left his ex-girlfriend heartbroken.
A friend of hers said: ‘Hayley saw the messages and she was devastated. It had been six months since their breakup and the posts were going all over the place. It led to many people reaching out and had a major impact on her mental health.
Mark Labbett – known as The Beast in 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. In it she said: ‘Please be mindful of what you post on Instagram as it has an impact on mental health trying to move forward, thank you.’ ‘
But she’s still waiting for an answer from the man she once called “my gentle giant.”
Mark took a cheeky swipe at Hayley in a newspaper interview this week by suggesting their years-long relationship was not ‘serious’.
Mark was asked about his marriage to Katie and why he still had to divorce her. He replied: ‘It will happen if Katie or I have someone serious – then of course it could be a different matter.’
The sharp comment was seized upon by furious friends of Hayley.
“Mark’s comments were completely cruel,” one person told me. “If their relationship wasn’t serious, as he suggested, why would he make her believe it was?”
‘The week before he dumped her they went to see Loose Women [to talk about their relationship]. If it wasn’t as serious as he suggested, why would he do that? Hayley really believed they had a future together and they often talked about living together. He led her up the garden path.
‘He didn’t consider her feelings despite the fact she contacted him. Hayley has done everything she can to heal from the breakup.
Mark was nicknamed The Beast because of his staggering IQ of 151 and the fact that his last name – Labbett – sounds like ‘la bête’, French for ‘the beast’
‘What he did was very disrespectful and he clearly has no sympathy for Hayley considering all the pain he has caused her.’
That Mark is now a real heartthrob is all the more shocking considering the TV star once saw himself as nothing more than an ‘overweight maths teacher’ – and admitted in a 2022 interview with the Mail that he was probably on the autism spectrum sit. Born in Tiverton, Devon, Mark obtained a first-class degree from Exeter College, Oxford, where he studied mathematics, and later became a maths and PE teacher in South Wales. But ever since he worked at Butlin’s Holiday Park in his youth, quizzing has always been Mark’s heart.
He supplemented his income with winnings from quiz machines – and researched the answers he got wrong.
In 1996, Mark took part in the University Challenge. He reached the quarter-finals as captain of the Glamorgan University team (where he studied postgraduate law).
This was followed by appearances on Countdown, Channel 5’s BrainTeaser, BBC One’s SUDO-Q, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (twice) – before The Chase in 2009. The quiz show pits members of the public against professional quizzers – such as Mark – known as ‘The Chasers’.
Mark then married Katie, a nurse, in 2014 after they met on Facebook. Mark says they vaguely knew they shared “a family bond.” But in an extraordinary twist of fate, three years after their wedding, the couple discovered they were second cousins. Katie’s father and his father had been cousins.
“It wasn’t something we were aware of at the time; it was one of those things that happened,” the Chaser said. Still, the couple decided to put it behind them – until Mark discovered that Katie had started a secret relationship with design engineer Scott Bate.
“When Katie was honest with me for the first time about her boyfriend, I already had a suspicion,” the quizzer said at the time. “But from the beginning my attitude was quite pragmatic: this was spilled milk, what could we do about the situation to make it right?”
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 pressure and created what he called a ‘perfect storm’. That’s why he decided to leave his wife in 2020 and let her move on with her new younger lover.
It was after the split that Mark lost ten stone – through regular exercise, he says – and unveiled his sleek new look on the red carpet of the National Television Awards in September 2022.
It was there that Mark met the statuesque Hayley, who worked 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 snappy jokes. He charmed Hayley, and her friends claim he assured her he was on the verge of divorcing Katie. She believed him and they made their long-distance relationship work – he lives in Yorkshire and Hayley lives in London – meeting for romantic dates and training together in hotel gyms.
The new couple also appeared together on ITV’s Loose Women, where Mark opened up about their relationship. Many of the couple’s friends were convinced that the amorous appearance was a sign that an engagement was in the offing.
But a week later, Hayley shocked fans when she confirmed the couple had split. She wrote: ‘I regret to announce that me and Mark have gone our separate ways. We have had the best year together and I sincerely wish him all the best for the future.”
But her words hid the depth of her grief. The TV presenter had been dumped by Mark during a 9am phone call a few hours earlier, leaving her in shock.
A friend of Hayley said: ‘They went on Loose Women to talk about their one year anniversary and were so in love. As far as Hayley was concerned, everything was going in the right direction; they even talked about living together.’
The fallout from the split has left friends of the couple questioning whether the relationship was as perfect as it seemed.
And as the unexpected heartthrob rebuilds bridges with his ex-wife, many fans are wondering: what’s next for The Beast’s colorful dating life?
A clue can be found in the words of a well-placed source who tells me that Mark never got over the breakup with Katie: “She was always the love of his life.”