Why this ski topper surprised a TV presenter in bed

Ralf Meile

Why on earth is a former German ski racer invited to England to surprise the host of a quiz show in his sleep?

Maybe you know the TV program “Gefragt – gegegt” on ARD. The English original is called “The Chase” and is presented by Bradley Walsh. And this Walsh loses his patience for a moment in 2011 when he has to read the following question:

After initially controlling himself, Walsh can no longer hide his smile. Fanny is not just a first name in England. The term is used there as a crude expression for the female sexual organ. Combined with the surname, Fanny Chmelar – slightly mispronounced “smelly” – could be mistaken for someone whose job is to smell vaginas. “If that was my name, I would have it changed in a heartbeat,” Walsh said.

The presenter went viral with the clip. And now, 13 years later, he was reminded of it again – in an unusual setting, lying in bed.

This time Walsh was not the presenter, but rather a candidate for a special program in which celebrities are woken from their sleep and have to answer questions. And so Michael McIntyre asked:

Walsh answers like a shot: “Ski.” “I will take this viral moment to the grave,” he explains why he knows this. It’s the right answer. Fanny Chmelar, who took second place at the 2009 Slalom World Cup in Are, competed in the Olympic Games and three world championships, was a German ski racer.

And now it gets really fun. McIntyre greets Chmelar, but to Walsh’s relief the host says he’s just joking. To say again less than twenty seconds later:

The half-naked Walsh’s eyes are huge when Chmelar, long retired, enters the room with a pair of skis in her hand. “I’m really sorry,” he immediately calls to her, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to laugh at that moment.”

Bradley Walsh stammers, waking from his sleep, that this is the most absurd moment of his life. “I’m really starting to sweat,” he says, before standing up to shake hands with Chmelar, whose father is from the Czech Republic.

The ‘torture’ is not quite over yet. Now the German guest unpacks the cool box and Walsh has to smell what fragrant things Fanny has brought. “I have never experienced anything so strange,” Walsh summarizes at the farewell.