We sat down with Shaun Wallace- barrister, Mastermind champion and The Chase’s Dark Destroyer- to talk about the joy of quizzing, the myths TV gets wrong about the law, and the deeply personal moment that changed how he sees himself.
“I Always Want to Learn, No Matter How Much You Know”
Shaun Wallace has been outsmarting contestants on ITV’s The Chase since 2009, but ask him what keeps him coming back and his answer is disarmingly simple.
“I love everything about it. I love quizzing, and pitting my wits against the other contestants because you can always learn, no matter how old you are or how much you know. I always want to learn, and I am grateful the show gives me that chance.”
After 15 years as The Dark Destroyer, it would be easy to assume the shine has worn off. It clearly hasn’t.
“It’s great fun with Bradley and I hope viewers can see how much fun we have filming. I always look forward to every episode that I do.”
“Those Setbacks Do Not Define You”
Long before he became one of Britain’s most recognisable TV faces, Shaun Wallace was a kid in Wembley failing his O-level English, not once, but four times. It’s a part of his story he refuses to hide.
“My struggles were partly why I wanted to talk about my life and my career in my book, Chasing The Dream. I’m very open and honest about that, because I want people to realise that it’s not been easy for me and I hope it inspires others.”
What carried him through, he says, was never going it alone.
“One thing I’ve always had is a strong and supportive network who basically helped me get to where I am. No person’s an island. I had my own personal setbacks, not only academically, but at the time, professionally.”
His message to anyone facing similar struggles is clear, and delivered with the conviction of someone who has lived it.
“I want people to realise that those setbacks that you do have do not define you. It does not mean that your future’s behind you. You need all the support you can to help you overcome those setbacks — but ultimately, you’ve got to want to do it yourself, because nobody can force you to do it.”
“Rumpole Was My Hero”
As a practising criminal barrister at Great James Street Chambers handling cases involving murder, fraud and drug trafficking, Shaun has a sharper eye than most when it comes to how the law is portrayed on screen. But he’s more generous than you might expect.
“No, some of it is good. There was a programme called This Life that was very, very good. Andrew Lincoln was in that. That was a really good portrayal of what it was like as a young barrister growing up. There was another one called North Square, another really good show.”
But it’s a fictional silk from decades past who left the deepest mark.
“I think the most famous one, obviously, would be Rumpole of the Bailey. Although Rumpole was a fictional lawyer, he was my hero. The writer John Mortimer was at one time one of the top lawyers in the country.”
There’s a wider lesson in that admiration Shaun thinks, and one that goes well beyond the Bar.
“He inspired me because of the fact that he used his skills in a transferable way — from becoming a top lawyer to becoming a top author. You can use what skills you do have in a transferable way to actually shift from one profession to another.”
“I Don’t Want to Be the Last”
In 2004, Shaun Wallace became the first Black winner of Mastermind — a milestone that made headlines across the country and, by his own account, generated coverage no money could buy. Two decades on, he’s still watching the show every year, hoping to see someone follow in his footsteps.
“It has improved, and I’d like to think that even though I was the first, I don’t want to be the last.
I’m always watching Mastermind every year to hopefully one day see a Black female win, or somebody else from an ethnic background win — because what it basically does is shatter the myth that people from an ethnic background don’t have the same intellectual capacity as their white counterparts. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The reaction to his own win still stays with him.
“When I won Mastermind, I’ll never forget the press I got, you could not buy it. I’m the only Mastermind champion where they showed me winning on BBC Two one night, then transferred it to BBC One the following night. And it’s not happened since.”
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“She Managed to Survive the Yoke of Slavery and I Look Up With Pride”
Perhaps the most moving moment of our conversation came when Shaun reflected on filming ITV’s DNA Journey — a programme that traced his ancestry back through Jamaica, Nigeria and beyond. What he discovered changed something in him permanently.
“It was incredible for me to be in a position where I could trace my ancestry on my mother’s lineage going back 350 years.”
At the end of that lineage was a single name on a slave register.
“Seeing the last entry on that slave register — the name Bess, who was my great-grandmother six times removed — gave me a sense of pride, because she managed to survive the yoke of slavery. She managed to survive and actually create a lineage.”
He pauses before delivering what is, quietly, the most powerful line of the interview.
“I’m sure she’s looking down on me with pride and seeing that her great-grandson six times removed has managed to develop the career that he has. In honour of my six great-grandmothers, I’ve got an image on my wall and I always look up with pride and say to my ancestors: thank you.”
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