It’s 9 pm on a Tuesday evening, and Shaun Wallace, the Dark Destroyer from The Chase and arguably New Zealand’s favourite Chaser are on the phone from London.
He’s keen to re-establish the links he created when last in New Zealand in 2019, when he visited twice, running a combined 15 “An Audience with Shaun Wallace” events over the 19 days he was in the country in both February and November.
“It was exhausting for me; I literally had an event every night, but I was determined to get across the whole country if I could, and Brendan, who represents me in New Zealand, put together an awesome itinerary for me. I think we visited around ten cities, but I have unfinished business; there are parts of New Zealand I didn’t get to see that I would like to visit next time.”
‘Brendan’ is Brendan Lochead, the founder and sales manager of, Believe it or Not, New Zealand’s premier quiz provider. He is very clear that Shaun loves New Zealand and New Zealand in return loves Shaun: “From the moment that Shaun arrived here, he gave 100% to anyone he met, and very quickly I realised that at his age, he would fade very quickly unless I tried to protect him. But he was relentless, nobody missed out; every photo was taken, every book was signed, he really did ensure that all of his fans enjoyed their meeting with him. Shaun even rang a couple of people for their birthdays – they got one heck of a fright! He truly is a really nice guy - he still calls to check in every week and always wants to speak to my kids – H and Soph, he calls them!”
Whilst in New Zealand, Shaun visited several retirement villages, where there was standing room only, as he quizzed against selected residents, answered curly questions about The Chase, and signed copies of his autobiography Chasing the Dream. He also ran several charity events and hosted the 2019 New Zealand Pub Quiz Championships in Auckland, where almost 700 people attended.
Shaun’s memories are very clear when asked about the best parts of his visit: “Listen, there were so many amazing things I did. I went white water rafting and bungee jumping in Queenstown, got taken on a three-wheeler motorbike on a tour of Dunedin, visited Eden Park in Auckland and held the Rugby World Cup, commentated at the cricket test between England and New Zealand in Tauranga, saw Weta Workshop in Wellington and visited a wildlife sanctuary in Palmerston North. I also was a lolly runner on an Air New Zealand flight, I have the certificate they gave me on the wall behind me right now! I also got to meet two of my heroes, Sir Richard Hadlee and Dame Susan Devoy. Sir Richard brought along the mounted ball he took his nine wickets in an innings with, and Sue, she told me off for calling her Dame Susan by the way, took me out for lunch!”
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