The Chase’s Paul Sinha says his parents gave him ‘girl’s name’ – but he doesn’t use it
Paul “The Sinnerman” Sinha from The Chase (ITV)
Paul Sinha, better known as The Chase brainbox “The Sinnerman”, has revealed his birth name is actually associated more with girls.
The out gay quizzer spoke about the “weird” situation while talking to Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks on their Staying Relevant podcast.
The 56-year-old explained: “It’s quite a common thing with sons of Asian immigrants in this country, in Bengali it’s called a daknam and a bhalanam.
“Your daknam is what they call you. Your bhalanam is what you’re really called.”
He revealed his real name is Sipriya – “the first thing that came into [his parents’] heads”. However he said because it’s spelled with an A, with the emphasis on that A, it’s “a girl’s name”.
Sinha added: “So there was quite a good motivation to have a more common name. My mum and dad called me Paul all my life.”
But he explained that those in school called him by his “real name”.
He said: “All my school friends know me as Supriya, but I’m called Paul by literally everybody else.”
Of course, many people now know him as “The Sinnerman”, the nickname given to him as one of the fearsome Chasers on ITV show The Chase.
Who is Paul Sinha?
Sinha joined the series in 2011, with Mark “The Beast” Labbett, Shaun “The Dark Destroyer” Wallace, and Anne “The Governess” Hegerty. Jenny “The Vixen” Ryan joined in 2015, while Darragh “The Menace” Ennis was brought in in 2020, after previously beating Sinha as a contestant on the show in 2017.
The 56-year-old is also a doctor and comedian, and fronted his own ITV quiz show Paul Sinha’s TV Showdown in 2021 and 2022.
He was outed as gay to his mum while he was in medical school, and would eventually go on to marry his partner Oliver Levy in December 2019.
Earlier in 2019, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
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