fans were thoroughly impressed with an 18-year-old contestant on the latest episode of .

Jessie, a gap year student, joined teammates Ben, Denise, and Phil to face one of Britain's sharpest quiz minds, hoping to win a significant cash prize.

The show's longtime host, , returned to lead the game. After a rough start by Phil, who was eliminated in the first head-to-head round against chaser , Jessie took her turn in the cash builder round and impressed everyone with her wide-ranging knowledge.

Fans on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) were quick to praise Jessie, with one saying: "Prodigy is a stretch but she's impressive for her age."

Another added: "Jessie is cute and smart," and a third chimed in: "Jessie was a bloody good contestant considering she's only 18 years old."

Darragh Ennis also showed his admiration, saying of Jessie, who is set to study Spanish and Politics, "She's good, though. I think when she's at uni, she should seriously consider joining the quiz society or University Challenge-she knows her stuff."

"Awww that was nice of Darragh, well played Jessie," another player added.

Jessie and Denise found themselves the only two in the final chase with £8k to share between them.

Despite a valiant effort, they were no match for Darragh who sent them home with nothing.

The popular game show prides itself on a roster of brainy quizzers - Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darragh Ennis - making the competition fierce for contenders. Amid several standout participants, one recent player called Tom Williamson shone particularly bright, with many fans even hailing him as "the best ever" contestant.

Tom's memorable stint on the October 22 episode saw the Liverpool-based computer programmer astound from the get-go. Taking the hot seat first up, he floored everyone by flawlessly answering each question posed by host Bradley Walsh.

His commendable knowledge carried on into the next round where he racked up an impressive £60,000. Acknowledging his prowess, Chaser Shaun Wallace expressed:

"Tom, you're probably one of the best players I've ever played against in my 14 years of The Chase."

In an exclusive with Express.co.uk, Tom revealed some behind-the-scenes details about The Chase: "They tell you this in advance, they say they are going to record you talking about yourself for about one minute. And they don't give you another go."

"So, you have to write a script. You have to know exactly what you're saying and have an idea of what they want to hear. They want everything to be fast and understandable."