The Chase star Mark Labbett takes huge swipe at ex Hayley Palmer as he says he’ll prove he has not used slimming jabs

THE Chase brainbox Mark Labbett has taken a sideswipe at his ex-girlfriend Hayley Palmer, revealing he would only consider a divorce if he met someone serious.

Quizzer Mark — known as The Beast on the popular telly quiz — was in a relationship with TV host Hayley for a year after breaking up with wife Katie in 2020.

But they split in May during a three-minute phone call, as revealed by The Sun on Sunday.

Now, in an exclusive interview, Mark reveals his thoughts on divorce.

He said: “It will happen if either Katie or I get with someone serious — then it might obviously be a different matter.”

The 59-year-old also boasted that he is a “genius” and smarter than his fellow Chasers.

And after shedding a whopping ten stone since 2020, he is willing to prove to his critics that he had not undergone weight-loss surgery or used slimming injections.

Mark spoke out after Hayley, 43, told The Sun last month that his break-up with her a week after their one-year anniversary left her “completely crushed”.

She said at the time: “The whole thing was traumatic, and it’s been a journey to heal from it. He was truly beastly.”

But Mark feels relieved, explaining: “I’m just quite content being on my own.

“Facts are easy. Numbers are easy. People are complicated.

“I could sum me up as the kind of guy who could tell you the capital of Estonia is Tallinn but would have no idea why that pretty girl is giving me a funny half-smile.

“That’s why I never played poker seriously, because I realised I can’t read people.”

Hayley, a presenter on digital channel Memory Lane 80s, had been Mark’s first partner after his seven-year marriage to 32-year-old Katie ended.

But the 6ft 7in Chaser, who is currently starring as panto baddie Crookback in Jack And The Beanstalk in Gravesend, Kent, admits he found aspects of being in a couple difficult.

He explained: “It’s nice just being in your man cave doing your own thing.

“Let’s just say I’m able to watch a lot more sport than I used to.”

‘I can’t read people’

And he added of potential future relationships: “I’m not actively looking in any way, shape or form.”

Heartbroken Hayley claimed that he ended their romance because he did not want to divorce Katie, who is his second cousin and the mother of his seven-year-old son Lawrence.

But Mark revealed the real reason he has not yet filed the divorce paperwork, explaining: “I’m just a bit on the lazy side.”

Former maths teacher Mark and nurse Katie, who is 27 years his junior, got together in 2010 after connecting on Facebook, when Mark had been “basically single” for two decades. They married in 2014.

Late last month Mark shared photos of himself and Katie taking son Lawrence on outings to the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford and London’s Natural History Museum.

The snaps showed how dramatically Mark has slimmed down to 19-and-a-half stone since his marriage ended.

He said: “I’ve had speculation that I’ve lost it because of Ozempic or the gastric sleeve, but I’ve just done it slowly.

“I’m quite happy to go on Loose Women and take my shirt off with one of the TV doctors and say, ‘See if you can find the gastric band scar, because you won’t’.”

But his slim new look initially worried bosses at The Chase, which he has been on since its launch 15 years ago.

Mark said: “Someone quite senior at ITV said to me, ‘Are you sure if you’re down to 20st you will be as scary?’.

I’m a genius, and I’ve got the IQ points to prove it.

Mark Labbett

“But I’ve still got a pretty huge set of shoulders on me, and I’m still going to be way bigger than the average person.”

He also believes he is way smarter than the other five Chasers on the show, who include Anne Hegerty, 66, and Shaun Wallace, 64.

Mark declared: “I’m a genius, and I’ve got the IQ points to prove it. I’ve got the highest IQ of all the Chasers.

“When I did my IQ test, I heard one of the crew take a sharp intake of breath and say, ‘Mark might be breaking my record for the smartest person I’ve ever seen’.”

But despite his success he insists he does not flaunt his wealth or fame, claiming: “I am not going to buy flash cars, because I can’t fit in them.

“The one time I’ve used the phrase, ‘Do you know who I am?’ was to get the last room in the Sunbury Travelodge. That’s how showbiz I am.”

• Mark is starring in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Woodville Theatre in Gravesend, Kent, until January 5. See woodville. co.uk.