The Chase star Mark Labbett in 'trouble' on Celebs Go Dating after issuing apology

Viewers will see a new side of Mark Labbett as he appears on screens tonight hoping to find love on the Channel 4 reality series, Celebs Go Dating. The 59-year-old is best recognised as the ruthless quiz expert on ITV's beloved game show The Chase, who is also nicknamed The Beast for his stern demeanour. However, it seems the hard exterior will be stripped with viewers seeing a more "playful" attitude, according to expert Dr Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, but not without Mark ruffling some feathers.

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the dating agent revealed that the chaser "got into trouble" while filming the reality show. Although she remained tight-lipped, the expert said fans will have to tune in. Dr Tara also revealed that she was left "surprised" by the recently divorced star. This comes after Mark issued a grovelling apology due to his behaviour on the set of Celebs Go Dating and revealed that he's become "grumpy" on his quest to find true love.

Dr Tara revealed: "I would say Mark surprised me. I can tease that he got into trouble, but I guess people just have to watch what kind of trouble he got into.

"But I was surprised by him in terms of how ... people will see that he's very playful, you don't see that on The Chase. He has a sweet and playful demeanour; the viewers probably didn't know that he has that side to him."

Mark's quest for romance comes after the end of his marriage to ex-wife Katie, who is 27 years his junior.

The couple had been together for seven years and shared one child, a son, but parted ways in 2020. Their age gap was cited as a contributing factor in the split.

Mark recounted: "I'm used to being in a pre-planned environment on The Chase, where timings are strict, but reality TV can go on for longer and the days end up ending later than you think."

The ITV star, who has been vocal about potentially being on the autism spectrum, also added that his mental health struggled on the show. Mark said: "For me, the one thing I found was that you need a social battery recharge, and as someone on the spectrum, that's something I really need."

While he hasn't received a formal diagnosis, he plans to add the takeaways from this experience into future contracts to ensure he doesn't act in that manner again.

The TV star said: "I got quite grumpy on set. I did apologise to everyone, but, in the future, I'd definitely have it in my contract that I need breaks to have a nap and recharge."

Celebs Go Dating airs tonight on E4 at 9pm