One Chaser once joked that he was "thinking about his bonus" while knocking out players on the hit . , also known as the Beast, confused fans as they discussed the comment online, wondering how much each of the quizzing stars are paid and if they receive a higher salary for beating a team of contestants.

Posting to Reddit, one fan said: "I'm just watching it on Challenge and Mark said 'I'm just thinking of my bonus now', having knocked out three of them. I never realised - how much is this 'bonus'? It makes a difference to know they're not just playing to make good television, but stand to gain something from it themselves."

One TV insider replied as they commented, saying: "They do not gain a bonus for winning or losing. Their pay is inconsequential to their performance.

"They are required to always do their best and they do so. It may have been said tongue in cheek, but I've been assured that their pay is steady."

Mark previously also confessed that the team of chasers are instead paid a flat rate per appearance, but in most shows only one of them takes part. Except for in Beat The Chasers, when all six are on duty.

However, he suggested that the pay was not too bad and joked the more shows he does the richer his bank account looks. He told the press: "If I could get away with it, I'd purge half of them because the fewer Chasers there are, the more money I get!"

According to Anne Hegerty, also known as The Governess, they get paid a flat fee per episode. Speaking on Lewis Nicholls' YouTube show, she explained how they don't get a salary per month per year. She explained: "The Chasers and Bradley get paid a flat fee for which I'm being paid and the other Chasers aren't and that applies to all of us.

"If you're going to divide the shows by six rather than five, then do the maths. And it's excellent if it means we get a bigger order of shows, then everyone's money goes up.

"The problem is that Bradley is so in demand, is so good. He's so superb at everything he does and he can do so many things. And so of course he's massively in demand. And there's about 10 other things he's doing beside the daytime Chase."