The Chase Australia: Local Resident TV Star

It’s not every day you see your neighbour on TV, unless you’re a resident at Hometown Australia’s Beachfront Community in New South Wales. Local resident Peter Lonergan recently participated in Channel Sevens popular quiz show, The Chase Australia.

Hosted by Larry Emdur, contestants must answer general knowledge questions and stay one step ahead of the Chaser. Peter, who was hard to miss in his Hawaiian inspired shirt, was faced with some difficult questions and played against notorious Chaser, Issa Schultz.

“I always watch the show and I thought why not give it a crack! So, I filled out the online form and sent in a short video. I didn’t think much more about it until a week or so later I received a call from the show and a couple of days after that, I was asked to join a Zoom meeting with production. I was told if I don’t hear from them, I could re-apply again in six months’ time,” said Peter.

Luckily for Peter it wasn’t a long wait to hear that he was selected for the show with filming taking place in Sydney.

“We filmed in Sydney back in April prior to the recent COVID-19 outbreak and it was such a great experience with production making us feel relaxed and comfortable. It was a long day of filming, but I was with a really nice group of contestants. It was great to meet Larry, he was fantastic!” said Peter.

Designed to be a pressure cooker environment with limited time to answer questions, Peter said he felt calm and confident on the day.

“You don’t know which Chaser you’re going up against until you face them and I was the first contestant to go up on the day. I have a fair amount of knowledge about most things, but I like to take my time to think about the question. You never know how you’re going to react on a show like this and you only have 60 seconds to answer the first round of questions. It’s a lot of pressure,” said Peter.

For Peter it wasn’t about winning the prize money, it was about being part of a great experience.

“I told Larry that I’m not here to make money, I’m here to have a good time. I just wanted to get through to the end and be up against the Chaser,” said Peter.

Due to COVID-19 the Beachfront Community weren’t able to come together to celebrate Peter’s time on the show however they have showed their support in many other ways.

“The support I have received from residents and the Community Manager has been great. Due to COVID-19 we weren’t able to come together to watch the episode, but many residents watched from their homes. It was such a great experience, I would do it all again,” concluded Peter.

Interested to see how Peter went? You can watch the recent episode on Seven Plus.