Bradley Walsh at the Brit Awards

Here is a question you might get on The Chase: which British artist had the best-selling debut album in the UK last year? Was it (a) former One Direction star Zayn Malik; (b) hotly tipped Brits Critics’ Choice winner Jack Garratt; or (c) 56-year-old host of The Chase, Bradley Walsh? What looks like the joke answer is, in fact, the correct one: it’s (c).

Walsh’s album Chasing Dreams did better than anyone could have expected. Two days ago, he was presented with his gold record, marking 100,000 sales. The album is mostly covers of songbook classics such as That’s Life and Mr Bojangles. 

“I just laughed when I found out,” he says. “I thought it was hysterical. I am probably the oldest new artist Sony has ever signed. Niall Horan (Zayn’s former bandmate) was sending me messages, laughing his head off. And I got big congratulations from Simon Cowell. He thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Bradley seems to be enjoying his newfound musical fame, heading to this week's Brit Awards and meeting hip-hop/grime star Stormzy.