Bradley Walsh’s royal snub: Why The Chase star was urged to ignore Queen

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Bradley Walsh has established himself as a national treasure over the past few decades after featuring on a number of major British shows including ‘Coronation Street’ and gameshow ‘The Chase’. The ITV host started his career as a semi-professional footballer for Brentford and Barnet, before edging his way into comedy. But his “big break” came when he asked to join a line-up of talent for the ‘Royal Variety Performance’ show in 1993. But before that life-changing appearance, the star was extremely nervous about entertaining the nation, HRH Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal Family. Unearthed accounts reveal how his fears were quelled thanks to wistful advice of veteran TV legend Des O’Connor. 

Bradley Walsh confessed that a phone call from the chat show host “got rid of any worries or any nerves” that he had, in a 2016 Huffington Post article.

He was asked to do a section of stand-up comedy for the 1993 ‘Royal Variety Performance’ – the first of four appearances to date on the charity fundraiser. 

Unbeknownst to him at the time, but the star’s debut at the annual event would help to further his career exponentially.

The night before his moment in the royal spotlight, Bradley recalled taking a call from Des O’Connor and believed his success was due to taking everything he said “on board”.

He explained: “I was only a kid, 33, I think I was, and it was my first big break.

“He said to me: ‘Imagine there are no TV cameras, just be yourself, don’t work to the cameras. 

“‘But also, don’t work to the Queen, she’s not interested in comedy, she loves the ballet.’”

He heeded Des’ wise words about the Queen and claimed that the show went “really well”. 

Bradley said: “I took that on board – I didn’t even acknowledge the Queen until the end, I had to bow and then get off.

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“That helped launch what I was trying to do at that time.”

The presenter, who had a brief flirtation with singing when he released the albums ‘Chasing Dreams’ in 2016 and ‘When You’re Smiling’ the following year, revealed some more tips from his career.

He said it’s vitally important that you “don’t give up” and “don’t let anyone tell you ‘no’” because that’s “just their opinion”.

Bradley added: “There’ll always be someone along the line who’ll say ‘yes’. 

“There could be millions of ‘no’s, but that’s actually just as good as the word ‘yes’, because it means you can go elsewhere. So don’t give up.”

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