Exuberant England fans have been seen serenading a lookalike of ‘The Beast’ Mark Labbett ahead of the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 semi-final showdown against the Netherlands.
Footage shows supporters chanting ‘he’s got The Chase in the morning’ to the TV personality’s doppelganger outside a bar in Dusseldorf.
Labbett is a professional quizzer and is best known as one of the ‘chasers’ on the ITV game show The Chase as ‘the Beast’ since 2009.
The man, who has not been identified, seems to take the joke well, smiling and waving to the rest of the group as they enjoy their drinks in the German sunshine.
The video was posted onto social media and has since gone viral, being viewed more than 400,000 times on TikTok and Facebook.
A number of users commented and praised the Labbett lookalike for his sense of humour, with one saying: ‘took it well, good on him.’, another added: ”took it like a boss.’
Others praised the fans for the quality of the chant. One person wrote:’ ‘I love this Crack.’, while a second posted: ”English humour unrivalled.’
Some were also confused as to whether or not the person in question is actually ‘The Beast’, as one person said: ”Either that is actually him or it looks a LOT like him.. it is him isn’t it?’
England fans are now arriving in Dortmund for Wednesday night’s semi-final tie against the Dutch and 30,000 spectators are expected to be inside the Signal Iduna Park to cheer on the Three Lions.
However, for the first time this tournament it looks like English supporters will be outnumbered, as hordes of Netherlands fans who are expected to descend on the city, with officials estimating 75,000 Dutch supporters will travel across the border, which is only an hour away.
Ticket prices for Wednesday night’s match in Dortmund have skyrocketed in recent days after the two teams booked their places in the semi-final.
Prime seats – those situated by the halfway line – have been listed for as much as £17,000, while the cheapest seats up in the gods, which usually go for around £70, are barely available for less than £600, an increase of nearly 1000 per cent.
If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a set of tickets, the bill doesn’t end there, as some entrepreneurial hotel and AirBnB owners have jacked up their prices to 22 times their normal rates.
Multiple Ryanair flights to Dortmund from London are also sold out, and the few seats that are available are going for nearly five times their regular prices.
England’s official travel club was only given 6,500 tickets in the ballot, leaving many fans at the mercy of ticket resale sites where the prices can be increased in line with demand.
On one of these site, Viagogo, a seat in a prime location was listed as being available for €19,780 (£16,500), reports The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, on StubHub tickets ranged from €700 (£592) each for seats high up in one of the corners at Signal Iduna Park, rising to €16,090 (£13,602) for a VIP package.
Many of these have since sold out, with eager fans willing to pay the price to see their team have a chance to reach the Euro 2024 final, which will be played on Sunday night at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Outside the ground, hotels and AirBnBs are largely sold out, with Booking.com saying that 91 per cent of its listings in the city are unavailable on Wednesday night.
The Hotel Unique Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, for example, lists its cheapest room as being available for €1,803 (£1,524) on its website for Wednesday’s clash.
But the same sort of room a week later is priced at €83 (£69).
The LivInn Hotel, a three-star establishment in the city lists a single room for an overnight stay on the day of the match as €1,235 (£1,044).
A week later the same room would be priced €95 (£80).
It is a similar story on AirBnB, with one flat being listed for £923 for Wednesday, with the same venue costing £118 for the same days next week.
While many England fans will have been staying in Germany over the last couple of weeks, some have been flying in and out of the country as and when the matches take place.
Those wanting to fly directly to Dortmund for the match this week face hiked prices for plane tickets as well, if they can get them.
Ryanair has two sold out flights leaving London Stansted for Dortmund on Wednesday morning, with tickets for a third flight going for a minimum of £250 when checked earlier this morning.
By comparison flights leaving the same airport for Dortmund on the same day next week were being sold for a comparatively cheap £56.
And those looking for fly back with the same airline face a wait, with all Ryanair services from Dortmund to London sold out for Thursday and Friday, with the earliest available flight home on Saturday.
Meanwhile, security staff will be on alert amid claims England fans gained entry to their quarter-final win over Switzerland by ‘doubling up’ at turnstiles.
Mail Sport has seen evidence that some have been boasting about their ability to gain entry to the Dusseldorf Arena by squeezing through the entrance behind a fan with a valid ticket – and are now planning a repeat on Wednesday.
Five people were arrested for trying to force their way into the stadium without a ticket, but others have bragged about managing to get inside. Such a scenario could create a considerable safety risk – amid a huge interest in the fixture – given the venue is likely to be bursting at the seams with tickets on resale markets going for as much as £1,270.