The Chase star Paul Sinha has hit back at racist trolls after they flooded social media attacking the show's diverse line-up.
The 51-year-old spoke out on Twitter after observing the reaction to Tuesday's episode on the social media site.
The show saw contestants Michelle from London, Salim from Manchester, Karen from Swansea and Riaz from Solihull team up to take on Paul - also known as The Sinnerman.
All the players were non-white, which sparked outrage among some viewers who branded the episode as 'an invasion' and a 'BAME special'.
After seeing the vile comments, Paul felt forced to speak out.
"I know it's only a sad, inadequate minority. But those Chase 'fans' who had trouble with the ethnic make up of today's show – the Chase was never, ever for you.," he tweeted.
Fellow chaser Anne Hegerty agreed, writing back: "Depressing, isn't it?"
It's not the first time an ITV gameshow has been targeted with racist comments.
During an episode of Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow last year, the show was slammed for its "lack of diversity" for welcoming an all-Black panel and even complained to the television watchdog Ofcom.
Many defended the episode's line-up over on Twitter and called out the racist remarks.
Meanwhile, Paul has opened up about how his husband helps him get dressed in the morning following his Parkinson's diagnosis.
Top quizzer Paul appeared on Loose Women to discuss how he's living with the condition and paid tribute to his husband Oliver Levy.
He was diagnosed with the progressive nervous system disorder in May 2019 and told the panel: "Parkinson's Awareness week, what we really want to get out there is that people present in different ways, don't stick with the stereotypes of what we have.
"The most difficult thing for me today was actually putting this shirt on.
"I have to wake up, find the shirt and then wake Oliver up and say put the shirt on for me.
"You can see that I am sitting here with my right hand not moving much, that's it's default state. Everything you usually take for granted just takes longer."
When panellist Kaye Adams asked Paul how he was, he replied: "I'm fine to be honest with you, I was diagnosed in 2019 which was a bit of shock to the system having spent two years with a troublesome right shoulder," he replied.
"But to be perfectly honest with you, Covid has been more part of my life than Parkinson's because Parkinson's is quite a slow process compared to a global pandemic," Paul continued.
"So I've had more worries with Covid than Parkinson's because I'm not quite where I was two years ago for sure but I'm still fighting fit."
*The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV.
