Inside Chase star The Beast's toxic love triangle: After 'savage' comments on ex-girlfriend and reunion with cousin ex-wife, friends reveal her devastating WhatsApp and vent fury at unlikely Lothario's 'disrespect' in scandal everyone is talking about
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On first impressions, Mark Labbett, the formidably intelligent professional quizzer on ITV's hit game show, The Chase, might not seem like your typical Lothario. An ungainly 6ft 7in and known as 'The Beast' on account of his staggering IQ of 151 and surname (Labbett sounds like 'la bête', French for 'the beast'), he has however become embroiled in a love triangle so complicated – and toxic – it would make even the most accomplished quizmaster's head spin.
![[A slimmed-down Mark last year with his now ex-girlfriend, Sky TV presenter Hayley Palmer]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/01/93253957-14203573-A_slimmed_down_Mark_last_year_with_his_now_ex_girlfriend_Sky_TV_-a-3_1734485262647.jpg)
In 2020, Labbett, now aged 59, called off his seven-year marriage to his second cousin Katie, 27 years his junior and the mother of his seven-year-old son Lawrence. And following the high-profile split (the pair are yet to formally divorce), the TV star – who once weighed 29 stone – went on to date Sky TV presenter Hayley Palmer, 43.
![[Mark got his nickname The Beast on account of his staggering IQ of 151 and that his surname - Labbett - sounds like 'la bête', French for 'the beast']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/01/93253965-14203573-Mark_got_his_nickname_The_Beast_on_account_of_his_staggering_IQ_-a-1_1734485262629.jpg)
Then he brutally dumped her during a three-minute phone call in May, days after their one-year anniversary, telling her: 'I don't think we should see each other any more. You were right, I don't want to get a divorce [from Katie].'. Last month, Mark posted a photo to his Instagram page that seems to confirm Hayley's worst suspicions. In the snap captioned 'Co-parenting in London', he posed with his arm wrapped tenderly around his ex Katie's shoulders during a day out to the Natural History Museum in London.
In doing so, I can reveal that, according to sources, he has left his ex-girlfriend broken-hearted. A friend of hers said: 'Hayley saw the posts and it left her devastated. It was six months since they'd broken up and the posts went everywhere. It led to a lot of people reaching out and it really affected her mental health.
