Comedian Chris Ramsey wins £31K on ITV's Celebrity Catchphrase for South Shields Customs House

The South Shields comedian brought home £31,400 for the town’s famous theatre which, like many performing arts venues, has been hit hard by the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had.

The 34-year-old, who is an honorary fellow of the Customs House alongside wife Rosie Ramsey, admitted he loved the ITV show and stormed through the starting rounds against fellow contestants M People legend Heather Small and Strictly Come Dancing 2019 champion and actor Kelvin Fletcher.

Coming out on top the comedian, who competed against Kelvin in Strictly 2019, said: “I’m not really that competitive and wanting to win for the sake of it. This is a show I love and I’ve watched for years so I just wanted to do well for that reason – and for the charity.

"It’s the Customs House – a theatre charity in South Shields. Obviously theatres are struggling a lot at the moment and it’s a theatre close to my heart.

"A lot of people you will have heard of have come up through there: my wife acted and sang there back in the day, Joe McElderry has come through there, Jade from Little Mix has come through there, myself.

"It’s just time to give a little local theatre charity a really good boost – hopefully.”

When Stephen Mulhern asked what would £50,000 would do for the theatre, Ramsey joked: “If that doesn’t get me a statue outside I’d be fuming” adding that he’d pose like Rocky Balboa.

He raised an additional £25,000 for the charity during the final solo challenge but after flying through the first four catchphrases struggled to work out the tough ‘everyone’s a winner’ finale.

Having dropped to his knees when time ran out, his face lit up when Ramsey realised he’d won a massive £31,400 for the Customs House.

Customs House Executive Director Ray Spencer, said: “We were absolutely thrilled and delighted when we were contacted by Chris Ramsey to be told that he would be supporting The Customs House charity with his fantastic win on Catchphrase.

"Although we are unable to open the building at the moment we will continue to develop online streaming and digital offers to continue our work in the community and look forward to the day when we can welcome back our loyal supporters, whose efforts to keep us open will never be forgotten.”

During the final challenge, Ramsey was also able to double the charity money won by his fellow contestants which will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities UK and Barnardo's.

The expecting dad received a surge of praise online, with one Twitter user saying: “What a run in the super catchphrase by Chris Ramsey. Superb.”

Responding to the wave of praise and congratulations on social media, Ramsey posted on Twitter: “Thanks for all the Catchphrase love guys. You’re making me all emotional here!

“The @CustomsHouseLP is an amazing venue and theatres are in big trouble at the moment. So I was glad I could help!”

Support your Gazette and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest football stories and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.