Sara Haines is wearing many hats over at ABC, including her latest stint as host of ABC’s primetime game show, The Chase.
The show, which has its season finale set to air this Tuesday, can be unpredictable — even for Haines herself.
In a recent interview with Shadow and Act Unscripted, she explained, “The best part of this is every time I do a read [for] a cash builder or the final chase, I know I read a lot, but I’m pretty fit. I shouldn’t be breathing as hard as I am. But my emotions get so wrapped up in the timer, in knowing the time, that when the chasers are doing the final chase, I’ve had them tell me about how much time they need to finish. And I can tell there’s no way they’re going to win. And I’m starting to be like, ‘Oh my God, don’t mess this up,’ because if I mess something up, everything has to stop. The timers have to be changed.”
With audiences and the players themselves already on edge, the host is the one whose mind is racing even faster than The Chase itself.
“I start to get nervous as if I’m sitting in that seat,” she continued. “And I’m reading and I’m like, ‘Don’t mess up a word. Don’t mess up.’ And then as you’re seeing contestants sometimes really get a lead on their steps, you’re wanting them to get as many as you can. But you want to make sure you also don’t speed through the question in a way they can’t even hear it, because it’s all audible. I’m a reader. I’m a visual learner. So there have been times they share with me, both chasers and contestants, it’s so hard to be nervous, to listen and then answer. I get way too into it, but I’m such a fan of the show.”
With The Chase on now, Haines also is going through the celebration of the 25th season of The View.
‘When I think of The View, I honestly remember it more watching it,” she said when speaking about the milestone. “I spent years tuning in because there was something so powerful about watching such different women, different decades of their lives [and] different backgrounds coming together and talking about things that really mattered– and openly so and unapologetically so. So to even fill in on the show, I don’t know how many years ago, I remember thinking, ‘I’m done now. I was once a guest host on The View. I’m done. [laughs] So to sit at that chair and be considered a host, a part of this legacy, it is the hugest of honors. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t recognize that I sit next to Whoopi [Goldberg]. Just today, I was walking out of the makeup room, and Whoopi’s standing there. She was talking to someone, but no one was in the hallway. And I looked down, I go, ‘Oh my God. It’s Whoopi Goldberg.” And then we started laughing at each other. I go, ‘Why do I never get used to that?’ So I think there are reminders everywhere from the logo to the intro music that just lock you into a moment where you’re like, ‘I’m a part of this. How cool is that?’ So it’s awesome.”
Watch the full interview below:
