Bradley

The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special is airing on Christmas Eve on ITV

Bradley Walsh is left gobsmacked after one star banks a ‘rare’ amount of cash on The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special.

The festive episode airs on Christmas Eve and sees comedian Lucy Porter, Countdown host Colin Murray, Strictly Come Dancing vocalist Tommy Blaize, and actor and comedian Asim Chaudhry take on five Chasers, who are dressed in festive costumes.

In an exclusive clip obtained by The Mirror, it sees Lucy, 52, impress during the cash builder round. At the start of the round, it sees host Bradley, 65, say: “Now, you and I, we’ve known each other a long while. You love quizzing, don’t you?”

To which Lucy admits: “I do, I do. My dad used to, when I was a kid, if we had dinner, you didn’t get pudding unless you could answer a quiz question.

“So, every time I would answer a question, he’d need to give me a slice of Viennetta or an Arctic roll!”

Lucy then gets stuck into the cash builder round, where each correct answer is worth £1,000. In the 60 seconds, Lucy is able to correctly answer ten questions, earning an incredible £10,000.

After the impressive cash builder round, the audience and Lucy’s fellow teammates erupt into cheers.

Meanwhile, host Bradley says: “Well that was very, very rare that we get five figures in a cash builder. Ten grand, congratulations, time to face a Chaser!”

Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darragh Ennis will all appear on the special festive instalment of the ITV quiz show.

The fancy dress theme this year is Christmas Lunch. The Beast is a Christmas Pudding, The Vixen is a Brussels sprout, The Menace is a Pig in Blanket, The Sinnerman is a Turkey and the The Governess is a Christmas Cracker.

Anne looks glamorous has ever in a blonde curly wig with a glitzy red ballgown for the special occasion where the others don eye-catching costumes to get into character.

The Chase Christmas Special airs on Wednesday 24 December at 5.55pm on ITV1.

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Dec. 12 (UPI) — U.S. Southern Command leader Adm. Alvin Holsey relinquished his command on Friday amid his pending retirement from the Navy after 37 years of service.

Holsey announced his pending retirement in October without giving a reason, CBS News reported.

He relinquished his command over military forces in South America during a ceremony Friday at Southern Command headquarters.

“We have worked hard and tirelessly to build relationships and understand requirements across the region,” Holsey said during a command-change ceremony.

“That work must continue across the whole government to deliver at the point of need to respond to shared threats in our neighborhood — the time is now.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine bestowed the Defense Distinguished Service Medal upon Holsey during the ceremony and included a citation that was signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“One of Adm. Holsey’s most significant achievements was the transformation of USSOUTHCOM into a more agile, capable and operationally present force,” U.S. Southern Command officials said Thursday in a news release, as reported by The Hill.

“Under his leadership, the command expanded from roughly 3,500 personnel to nearly 15,000 personnel in direct support of operations in the region,” the release said.

“The operational impact was immediately felt, with the expanded U.S. presence across the region, improving responsiveness and strengthening deterrence.”

Holsey initially was scheduled to lead Southern Command for four years, but stepped down amid the U.S. military buildup in the region after taking command in November 2024.

Holsey and Hegseth have had disagreements regarding strikes on alleged drug vessels and other actions that have raised tensions between the United States and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to CBS News.

The U.S. military has targeted at least 22 vessels in strikes that have killed at least 87 crew members deemed “narco-terrorists” by the Trump administration and Hegseth since the strikes began in September.

Hegseth also accused Holsey of moving too slowly in developing options to ensure the United States has unhindered access to the Panama Canal, which President Donald Trump has said the nation should reclaim from Panama, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan Pettus is scheduled to replace Holsey as acting commander of Southern Command.