For years, Mark Labbett was the towering presence on ITV’s The Chase — the quizzer known simply as The Beast. Lately his story has moved well beyond the studio floor: a 10-stone weight loss, a public split from TV presenter Hayley Palmer, and a reconciliation in 2026 have made his personal life as talked-about as his general knowledge. What emerges is a portrait of a man balancing health, family, and a career that may be on pause.
Weight loss: 10 stone (140 lbs) · Marriages: 2 · Children: 1 son · Current partner: Hayley Palmer (as of Aug 2026) · Age: 59 (born 1965) · Best known as: The Beast on ITV’s The Chase
Quick snapshot
- Split from Hayley Palmer in May 2024 after roughly one year together (Daily Mail (UK news outlet)).
- Lost 2.5 stone in six months in 2018 — enough that The Chase bought him a new suit (Digital Spy (TV and entertainment outlet)).
- Has been married twice, most recently to Katie Labbett (Daily Mail (UK news outlet)).
- The specific reasons for his divorce from Katie Labbett have never been publicly detailed.
- Whether his exit from The Chase is a permanent departure or a pause.
- Where he is based day-to-day, beyond recent London sightings.
- 19 Feb 2026: walked off The Chase after losing the Final Chase (Mirror (UK national news outlet)).
- 26 Aug 2026: reconciliation with Hayley Palmer reported (Headtopics (news aggregator)).
- Repeats are becoming the norm, per Labbett (The Independent (UK national outlet)).
- A return date for The Chase has not been announced. (The Independent (UK national outlet))
- New TV projects are rumored but unconfirmed. (The Independent (UK national outlet))
Key facts at a glance
Eight biographical facts, one pattern: the public record on Labbett is a mix of hard numbers and carefully guarded privacy — his weight loss is on the record, while the personal details stay deliberately vague.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Andrew Labbett |
| Born | 1965 (age 59) |
| Occupation | Professional quizzer, television personality |
| Known as | The Beast |
| Weight before weight loss | 29 stone (406 lbs) |
| Weight after weight loss | Approx. 19 stone (266 lbs) |
| Number of marriages | 2 |
| Children | 1 son |
Why did Mark Labbett leave his wife?
Mark Labbett has never given a detailed public account of why his marriage to Katie Labbett ended. The most specific explanation to surface in coverage came from Hayley Palmer, who said Labbett ended their relationship because he did not want to go through with a divorce from Katie (The Sun (UK tabloid)).
Who is Mark Labbett’s current partner?
- Partner: Hayley Palmer, a UK TV presenter.
- Status: back together in 2026, following the split documented in the snapshot above.
- Timeline: the couple first dated for roughly a year before the May 2024 breakup.
Palmer has been the more public voice in the relationship’s ups and downs. The reconciliation reported in August 2026 came just over two years after the initial split.
Is Mark The Beast still with Deanne?
Mark Labbett’s current partner is Hayley Palmer, as of August 2026. There is no public record of a relationship with someone named Deanne; any past association is not documented in the coverage reviewed.
How many times has Mark Labbett been married?
- Total: two marriages.
- Most recent: to Katie Labbett, with whom he has a young son.
- Public detail: minimal — neither marriage has been discussed in depth by Labbett.
His marriage to Katie is the one that dominates the recent coverage, because Palmer’s account ties the 2024 breakup to Labbett’s reluctance to finalize the divorce.
Palmer’s account puts the divorce from Katie at the center of Labbett’s romantic turmoil — meaning his future relationships may depend on how cleanly he closes that legal chapter.
The pattern is consistent across the reporting: an unresolved divorce has cast a long shadow over every relationship since. The implication is that the court date, not the chemistry, may decide how Labbett’s next chapter unfolds.
What is Mark Labbett’s illness?
The health question follows Labbett everywhere. He has spoken about a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, and that diagnosis is the backdrop to the weight-loss coverage that has followed him since (Mirror (UK national news outlet)).
Has Mark Labbett lost weight?
- 2018: lost 2.5 stone in six months (Digital Spy (TV and entertainment outlet)).
- 2021: reported a 63kg (about 10 stone) total loss (Daily Mail (UK news outlet)).
- 2023–2026: coverage has framed the transformation as ongoing.
The numbers tell a simple story: Labbett’s body has changed dramatically in front of a national audience. The diagnosis noted above has been the constant in that coverage, and the weight loss is the visible result of managing the condition rather than a cosmetic change.
For a man whose nickname is The Beast, the visible change has professional consequences: The Chase had to buy him a new suit in 2018 because the old one no longer fit.
The trade-off: much of the weight loss has played out in public, so the story of The Beast now runs parallel to the story of a 59-year-old managing a chronic condition under tabloid scrutiny.
How many children does Mark Labbett have?
Mark Labbett has one child: a son born in 2018 with his ex-wife Katie Labbett (The Sun (UK tabloid)).
- Number of children: 1.
- Mother: Katie Labbett.
- Year of birth: 2018.
What is the name of Mark Labbett’s son?
The name of Mark Labbett’s son has not been publicly disclosed in any of the sources reviewed.
The birth made Labbett a father for the first time at 53 — a fact that anchors the family-man side of a public image usually built on quiz dominance.
What this means: the family unit is small — one child, two parents who are no longer together — but it is the axis around which the divorce, the Palmer relationship, and the 2026 reconciliation all turn.
Why is The Beast not on The Chase anymore?
The turning point came on 19 February 2026, when Labbett walked off The Chase set after losing the Final Chase (Mirror (UK national news outlet)). In the months that followed, he did not frame the moment as a resignation; he framed it as the symptom of a show being wound down around him.
Is Mark Labbett leaving The Chase permanently?
The walk-off was one moment; Labbett’s later comments suggest it was frustration with a format ITV was already cutting. Those two stories point to very different answers about whether he will return.
Labbett has told the Manchester Evening News that ITV has effectively shut down The Chase (Manchester Evening News (UK regional outlet)). He has also said repeats are becoming the norm because of budget cuts (The Independent (UK national outlet)).
- Show status: repeats, with no new episodes commissioned, per Labbett.
- His framing: an indefinite pause, not a formal cancellation.
The implication: the most recognizable face of The Chase is publicly saying the show is a victim of economics, not ratings. Whether ITV agrees is the part of the story still missing.
What is Mark the Beast doing now?
Two storylines are running in parallel for Labbett: a renewed personal chapter with Hayley Palmer and a professional calendar suddenly full of empty space.
- Relationship: back with Hayley Palmer, per the reports cited above.
- The Chase: on repeats, with Labbett publicly blaming ITV budget decisions.
- New projects: rumored, none confirmed.
Where does Mark Labbett currently live?
- Reported sightings: London, where he and Palmer have been seen together (Headtopics (news aggregator)).
- Official residence: not confirmed in any of the sources reviewed.
Labbett has not confirmed a fixed home base in the recent coverage. The London sightings fit a professional life that remains centered on British television, even as The Chase’s future sits with ITV’s budget team.
Who is the richest chaser in The Chase?
No official figures on chaser net worth are publicly available. Mark Labbett’s earnings are estimated but unconfirmed; other chasers such as Shaun Wallace and Paul Sinha also have speculative net worth figures in tabloid reports.
Why this matters: his next address matters less than his next commission; with The Chase in repeats, the open question is where his face shows up next.
Mark Labbett’s recent timeline
The dates below mark the public turning points in Labbett’s personal and professional story.
- 2018 — The Chase buys Labbett a new suit after he loses 2.5 stone in six months (Digital Spy (TV and entertainment outlet)).
- May 2024 — Labbett and Palmer split after roughly a year together (The Sun (UK tabloid)).
- 23 Sep 2026 — Labbett says ITV has effectively shut down The Chase (Manchester Evening News (UK regional outlet)).
The arc: a physical overhaul, a high-profile split, and a professional cliffhanger that is still unresolved.
What’s confirmed, what’s not
With the reporting still shifting, it helps to separate the documented facts from the open questions.
- Labbett has said ITV has effectively shut down The Chase (Manchester Evening News (UK regional outlet)).
- Labbett has said repeats of The Chase are becoming the norm because of ITV budget cuts (The Independent (UK national outlet)).
- The reconciliation with Hayley Palmer was reported in August 2026 (Headtopics (news aggregator)).
- Why the marriage to Katie Labbett ended — never publicly detailed.
- Whether the Chase exit is a permanent departure.
- Where Labbett is based day-to-day.
- ITV’s own position on The Chase’s future.
The pattern across both lists: Labbett is doing the talking, and the broadcaster’s own plans remain unconfirmed in the coverage reviewed.
What they said
Three statements capture where the story stands, as reported by the outlets that covered them.
Hayley Palmer said Mark Labbett ended their relationship in a three-minute phone call, and claimed he did not want to divorce his ex-wife Katie.
— Hayley Palmer’s account, reported by The Sun
Mark Labbett has said repeats of The Chase are becoming the norm because of ITV budget cuts.
— Mark Labbett, in coverage from The Independent
Mark Labbett told the Manchester Evening News that ITV has effectively shut down The Chase.
— Mark Labbett, in coverage from Manchester Evening News
Together, the statements map the dispute: Palmer says the breakup was about an unfinished divorce; Labbett says The Chase’s future is about an unfinished budget decision.
Where this leaves Mark Labbett
Mark Labbett has spent two decades as the smartest person in the room on The Chase. The chapter he is living now — visibly leaner, reportedly healthier, and back with Hayley Palmer — depends less on quiz knowledge and more on ITV’s budget sheets and a divorce that still shadows his personal life. For ITV, the choice is clear: recommission The Chase while its most recognizable chaser is still available, or let one of British television’s most reliable formats fade into repeats. For more on TV personalities, see Rachel Riley and Lorraine Kelly.
manchestereveningnews.co.uk, digitalspy.com, liverpoolecho.co.uk, digitalspy.com
Frequently asked questions
What is Mark Labbett’s real name?
Mark Andrew Labbett. He competes under the nickname The Beast, the persona he built as a chaser on ITV’s The Chase.
Why did Hayley Palmer and Mark Labbett split in 2024?
Palmer has said Labbett ended the relationship during a three-minute phone call, and that he did not want to go through with a divorce from his ex-wife Katie.
How much weight has Mark Labbett lost?
The most-cited figure in coverage is about 10 stone (140 lbs), with a documented 2.5-stone loss in six months back in 2018.
Did The Chase buy Mark Labbett a new suit?
Yes. Digital Spy reported in 2018 that the show had to buy him a new suit after his weight loss.
What has Mark Labbett said about The Chase’s future?
He has said repeats are becoming the norm because of ITV budget cuts, and told the Manchester Evening News that ITV has effectively shut the show down.
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Jonathan Ellery is Editor-in-Chief and Responsible Publisher at Press Hive, overseeing editorial standards, publication decisions and the corrections process.