Man shares sadness after quiz show teammate dies

Tim McCarthy and Lorcan Thorpe met for the first time when the show was filmed

A man who appeared on The Chase game show and won £100,000 alongside contestant Tim McCarthy has spoken of his sadness at discovering his teammate had died.

Lorcan Thorpe, 21, from Coventry, met his fellow player for the first time on the day the programme was filmed.

The episode was recorded in October, when Mr McCarthy, 64, fulfilled an ambition to compete in the programme. He died on 19 July from a long illness and the show was broadcast on Wednesday.

Discovering Mr McCarthy had died was "emotional", Mr Thorpe said, adding: "Being able to see it all back and being able to see our hug at the end when we win is a nice touch and it's certainly something I won't forget for a long, long time."

He said he found out a few weeks ago after Mr McCarthy's wife, Rachel, contacted him, describing it as a "tough" moment.

When the programme aired, Mr Thorpe posted on X, describing his teammate as his "hero".

'Going to go big'

Mr McCarthy, a Warrington-born head teacher, had set out to win the top prize and Mr Thorpe said: "I thought he'd definitely do it."

He said: "We had a little conversation that you don't get to see in the episode because it's between the camera filming.

"I said to him 'Tim, what are you going to do?' And he says 'Lorcan, I'm going to go big'."

Mr Thorpe said: "I thought if anyone's going to do it, he's definitely the man to do it it, and he absolutely smashed it out of the park."

The two contestants split the prize money between them.

Mr McCarthy's friends and family gathered at his local pub, The Colliers in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, to watch the quiz show go out.

Mrs McCarthy described her husband as "overjoyed" at his win. She said she wanted the broadcast to be "a celebration of his life".

In the quiz, four contestants compete against a professional quizzer, known as The Chaser, who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize.

In the finale, contestants who have not been eliminated must answer as many questions as they can against the clock and hope The Chaser will not beat their total at the end of two minutes.