The Chase’s Shaun Wallace: Having an IQ of a million doesn’t make you superior

The Chase star Shaun Wallace has said embarking on a road trip for his latest show taught him having “an IQ of a million” does not make you superior.

The professional quizzer, dubbed The Dark Destroyer on the hit ITV series, was joined by fellow Chasers Anne Hegerty and Mark Labbett on a global journey in search of an answer to the question: “Are we really as smart as we think we are?”

The 60-year-old said that through taking on a child genius, apes and the latest AI and robot technology, he discovered there was more to intelligence than he had previously thought.

Speaking about his co-stars, he said: “I know that I am bright, but discovered that I’m clever in a different way to the other two, because there are different forms of intelligence, such as, you have got emotional intelligence.

“You’ve got common sense, and I would like to think that I’ve got that in abundance.

“The mere fact that you may have an IQ of a million, it doesn’t make you any more superior to anyone else, because you have got to use your intellect in different ways, in different situations.

“You have got to have that empathy, that’s just me, only in comparison to my companions.”

Wallace, who is also a barrister, said his favourite moment of the trip came when he faced a child prodigy in a quiz.

Recalling the meeting, he said: “I suppose I liked the fact that I was trounced by a child prodigy and I managed to get one question right, so that was quite a funny moment, I cheered like I won the FA Cup Final.

“I started enjoying the experience and was not embarrassed in any way, shape or form.

“Whether or not an orangutan could beat me at ping pong, computer games or a child prodigy could beat me 15 to one, I don’t mind, for me, it was about exploring intelligence and not about me being embarrassed in any way.”

The Chaser’s Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles starts on Thursday January 21 at 9pm on ITV.