Popular game show star, Mark Labbett shocked viewers when he appeared on yesterday's edition of This Morning hosted by Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.

The Chaser from ITV's hit evening quiz show, The Chase, was almost unrecognisable as 'The Beast' strolled onto the morning chat show, having lost a lot of weight.

The former maths and PE teacher from South Wales was asked by Alison whether or not Chasers guess the answers to tough questions.

He said: "Yeah! I guess all the time. If they say who invented this word and it sounds vaguely old, go for Shakespeare. You'll see on The Chase how many times I say cheese or pasta because it's the default answer. It sounds Italian, pasta!"

Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary try to beat The Beast

The Northern Echo: ITV - Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary take on The BeastITV - Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary take on The Beast (Image: ITV)

The trio began discussing Mark's brand new quiz book, Can You Beat the Beast? and Alison wanted to have a go at beating him at his own game when the two went head-to-head.

Dermot and Alison teamed up as Mark read questions from the TV section of his new book. The pair were grilled on questions ranging from The Simpsons to Downton Abbey.

With every question being answered correctly by the hosts, a pleased Alison asked: "Did we beat you?"

A 'defeated' Mark was forced to admit "Yeah, you beat me."

"Yes! We beat him! We beat The Chaser," the host excitedly exclaimed before hugging and dancing with co-host Dermot.

Mark Labbett's 10-pound weight loss journey

The Northern Echo: ITV - Cast of The ChaseITV - Cast of The Chase (Image: ITV)

The conversation soon moved to Mark's amazing weight loss journey which has seen the champion pub quizzer lose 10 pounds since lockdown.

He recently said that he was close to taking high blood pressure pills but admits it wasn't until the pandemic that he began to really shed his weight.

He said: "Several factors came together nicely and the weight has just fallen off. The principal thing has been running after a hyperactive three-year-old in lockdown when the nurseries were shut. Instead of going to the fridge for a bit of late-night snacking all I could do was just collapse on a heap on the bed."

Viewers react to Mark Labbett's weight loss

Viewers took to social media to praise the star's amazing transformation.

One poster on Twitter said: "My goodness looking good Mark, already voted of course. Good luck #teamchase I’m rooting for you as always."

Another commented: "Wow!! Good on Mark, he looks sensational #thismorning" while one added: "Mark Labbett looks incredible after dropping off the weight. Watching his interview, he seems like such a lovely man #thismorning."