Sara Haines is the host of ABC’s newest quiz show “The Chase” and co-host of ABC’s daytime talk show, “The View,” where she returned to the panel for season 24 having been a co-host in 2016-2018 for seasons 20-21.
Most recently, Haines co-hosted ABC News’ “GMA 3: Strahan, Sara & Keke.” Prior to her association with ABC News in 2013, Haines was part of the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today,” alongside Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, a position she held from 2009 to 2013. In 2008, she began online reporting as host of the program’s entertainment video blog “Backstage Pass” interviewing countless celebrity entertainers, actors, and musicians.
“The Chase” is a heart-racing quiz show where three competitors must pit their wits and face off against the Chaser, a ruthless quiz genius determined to stop them from winning cash prizes. Each hour-long episode is a fast-paced battle of brainpower, where contestants are challenged to think faster than they ever thought possible to answer up to 166 questions across all topics. “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time”’s James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter take turns serving as the Chaser, reuniting the three titans of trivia who last faced off in January 2020. But now they’re no longer pursuing each other – they’re chasing YOU!
We had the opportunity to speak with Sara and ask her about The Chase. She was first asked to use one word to describe each chaser to which she replied, I would describe Ken as warm, James as well this word comes out bad, like snarky, he’s always got a line. So I don’t know if snarky is the way I want to capture it, it’s more like he’s like a sibling, he’s like a brat, a sweet brat, and then I would say Brad is just chill.
Sara explained that she loves everything about hosting and her lifetime of speaking quickly has come in handy. Now she can speak fast and not have anyone ask her to slow it down. When preparing for the show, she also makes sure to read the questions to make sure there aren’t any words that may slip her up, since she admits to mispronouncing words, unlike on the View, she is unapologetically herself.
The trivia questions on the show have given Sara a run for her money, and she has surprisingly found that she knows more of the answers than not. Then, on the ones that she doesn’t know the answer to, she says that she will grill The Chasers or simply research the answers herself. She says she has learned quite a bit being on set.
Speaking of the set, filming each episode is very different from what she is used to with The View (normally). Since there is a pandemic, there are no audience members and as far as precautions, there were on top of it with double masks and social distancing.
Sara admitted that she has always dreamt of being part of a game show because games in her family are very important. They play every time they see one another. That nostalgic connection reminds her of her family and of celebration.
Games to me are checking out. And I love that they bring people together.
Now for The Chasers, she explained how they weren’t what she expected in the best way. They all had dinner before the show started to get to know one another since they all knew one another well, but she didn’t know any of them. That didn’t last long, she said that they all made her feel immediately at ease and that they soon felt like her brothers.
To see Sara and The Chasers in action, check out “The Chase” on THURSDAYS (9:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on ABC. Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu.
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