'The Chase' fans shocked as Bradley Walsh hints at retirement plans

Bradley Walsh has shocked fans of The Chase by suggesting he is set to retire in a couple of years.

The presenter and actor, 61, has a big following as host of the ITV quiz show, which he juggles with starring in television programmes such as the upcoming Darlings Buds Of May reboot.

But he has now hinted that he can see himself wrapping up his showbiz career in the not too distant future.

Discussing his busy career, Walsh said on the Sliding Doors podcast: “You know what, in a couple of years’ time I won’t have to do any of it, I’ll be retired and that’ll be it.”

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Walsh - who has been on The Chase since 2009 - also opened up about how he manages to fit so much into his schedule.

He said: “It seems like I’m on your screen all the time only because I cram everything in a certain area of the year. So we make 210 Chases a year, 16 Celebrity Chases, 16 Beat The Chasers...

"It’s actually 86 days recording. So out of 365 days, you’d imagine I have loads of time off.

“But what that does is, it allows you - once you’ve got your bedrock of shows set in - what that does is that it allows you to then go off and do other things, like the Larkins (the Darling Buds reboot).”

He went on: “I don’t actually have time off. I have meetings, I have personal appearances that I have to make and stuff like that with other things I’ve got going on, so it’s quite tricky to juggle it about.”

“You know what, in a couple of years’ time I won’t have to do any of it, I’ll be retired and that’ll be it," he added.

Fans were not happy when they heard Walsh’s comments.

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One tweeted that the star leaving The Chase would be “the worst thing since unsliced bread”, while another said the idea had “ruined my day”.

“Pure #gutted man,” said one fan. “Will miss him #forever. If he was an #astronaut I would follow him to the moon and back.”