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Journalist counts the Costa wrong answer on TV quiz show

John BakerA footballer’s birthplace cost the former features editor of a regional newspaper thousands of pounds during an appearance on a TV quiz show.

John Baker, who used to work at the Peterborough Telegraph, appeared on ITV programme The Chase earlier this month.

The show sees contestants compete against a professional quizzer who tries to prevent them from winning cash prizes.

But sadly football fan John, pictured above left on the programme, was caught out by a question on Chelsea FC player Diego Costa.

Blues’ striker Costa plays for the Spanish national team, having switched his allegiance in 2013, but was actually born in Brazil.

At the time of the slip-up, John had made it through the quiz’s ‘cash builder’ first round with £6,000 to reach the final with all three fellow contestants.

The jackpot stood at a total of £56,000, which would have been split between the four of them.

Said John: “It all went wrong, starting with one question where I buzzed in at the same time as (fellow contestant) Julie and her name came out, but I said ‘E…’ – as the answer was EastEnders.

“There was a break of about five minutes while an adjudicator reviewed it, and in the end they knocked a point off us, which broke up our rhythm straight away.

“I got a Shakespeare question wrong that I knew, and a football one (where was Diego Costa born?) that I also knew – it all got a little bit mad in the middle of the 2 minutes.”

He added: “I was gutted at the end, but it was still great fun and one of the most unusual days in my life. Would I do it again? Definitely. In fact, I’m going to apply to other shows now.”

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  • November 26, 2015 at 10:06 am
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    Cheer up Johnny boy, it’s back to the ukulele for you. And it could be worse. Here’s journalistic legend Keith Newbery, former editor of the mighty Chichester Observer when it was a titan in the community, bombing hilariously on The Chase. Keith, sadly gone far too soon, was also a very clever man but it all went horribly wrong.
    http://youtu.be/fc1YQB8AlMk

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  • November 26, 2015 at 11:44 am
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    Thanks Idle Rich for brightening up my day!
    I used to read and enjoy Newbery’s columns in the 1980s and 90s and was saddened to hear of his death a short while back – taken from us when he only in his mid-60s.
    That footage had me creased with laughter and cringing in embarrassment in equal measure.
    He was a brilliant writer and a very intelligent man, but God, did he suck on that show!

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