The Way Out is a comedy competition where escape is the only objective. Hosted by Mel Giedroyc, the series drops comedians into surreal, high-pressure worlds packed with puzzles, misdirection, and a ticking clock. Across the series, Ed Gamble captains Lou Sanders and Chloe Petts, while Nish Kumar leads David O’Doherty and Amy Annette. Each episode throws the teams into a new scenario, from the high seas and art heists to rescue missions and reality-bending experiments.

Clues are hidden in plain sight, assumptions are dangerous, and every mistake costs valuable time. Physical challenges, lateral thinking, and teamwork are all tested as the teams race to escape as fast as possible. From the control room, Mel oversees the chaos, applying pressure and enjoying the confusion as it unfolds. With every second counting, the team with the quickest overall time across the series will be crowned The Way Out Champions.

The WayOut will be available on U and U&Dave From 12th May.

What is The Way Out?

Lou: It's a new television show based on escape rooms!

Chloe: It’s comedians trying to get out of escape rooms but incompetently.

Can you guys describe your roles in The Way Out?

Chloe: The Way Out has two team captains - Ed Gamble and Nish Kumar. And we are the carefully selected contestants on their teams. I would say that my role emotionally is quite malleable depending on who I'm in the rooms with, but I try to be a ballast and support for my fellow escapees.

Lou: Yeah - I'm just here for a laugh.

What do you know about the four escape rooms?

Lou: Well, what we know about the four escape rooms is you've gotta get out of them… And we love to escape, don't we?

Chloe: I simply j’adore escaping - every room I go into, I'm thinking, how do I get out?

Do you feel more pressure knowing that it’s a race against the other team?

Lou: We don't feel a lot of pressure knowing it's a race against the other team, because the other team are dummies.

Chloe: Yeah. I just feel a lot of pressure generally in life. It's self-inflicted.

Lou: But you're seeing a therapist about that, aren't you? Trying to work through it.

How do you feel that you work as a team with Ed?

Lou: Ed takes it very seriously, which I respect… I don't respect it all actually. But he loves the game, and I love the chase!

Chloe: I feel like Ed and I are biological brothers and that means that we oscillate between intense love for each other and intense hate of each other.

Lou: And our relationship's a bit more casual...

What would you say that each member of your team's strengths are, and what are your weaknesses?

Lou: Oh, do you mind if I just go through your weaknesses, please? Do you mind if I just tell everyone their weaknesses… that is kind of my personality. That's my weakness is going around telling everyone what they need to work on. I can't bear people's weaknesses, and I have to tell them what they should be doing.

Chloe: I would say another weakness is when you get asked a question about someone else, you will bring it back to yourself. Uh, but your strengths are jumping…

Lou: Awww, thank you for seeing me! You've seen me jump, haven't you?

Chloe: Oh, I've been watching you down those corridors.

Lou: Let's not do weaknesses for me and I'll go onto you… Your only weakness is that you’re hard on yourself… but your strengths are that you’re a really good team player. You're really fun to be around.

Chloe: Loulie! That is so nice.

Ed said that you guys are part of an escape room team outside of this, is that true?

Chloe: Lou hasn't been invited to mine and Ed's escape room team just yet...

Lou: Thank God.

Chloe: No, we keep inviting her and she keeps being busy. But yes, Ed and I have an escape room team, and I think what's difficult for us doing a comedy show based on escape rooms is that there is never anything comedic about being in an escape room. It's very functional, we're trying to get in and out in as quick a time as possible. Whereas, I feel like this is more about the journey that you take along the way.

Do you think that you'll accept the invite to the escape team now that you've played with these guys?

Lou: I think we've just got to be realistic about what your needs are and my needs are.

Chloe: What are your needs?

Lou: Not to do an escape room for fun… I'd be more interested in trampoline world or waterbased sports. We've got different hobbies and I don't really like escape rooms but if they want to come with me snowboarding, that would be nice!

What do you think of the other team? Do they make you nervous, or do you think you're going to beat them?

Lou: No, they don't make us nervous. We just wish they’d shut up and go home. Is that too much?

Chloe: I try to get nervous of them, I try to fairly estimate them and be like, ‘yeah, they're a really competent team with lots of competent individuals, you know, very intelligent, very smart, very practical.’ But then they just never cease to amaze me in their stupidity. I'm going to say it – it’s humiliating.

Lou: Mm-hmm. They're very slow and very dumb.

What happened in the ‘Gone Fishing’ room?

Lou: What happened in the Gone Fishing room will stay in the Gone Fishing room… apart from when they edit it and put it out on television.

Chloe: Yeah. Lou, it was filmed… you do know that this is all filmed…

Lou: No in the room I actually got really sick, I got very peaky, I was gonna throw up at one point and I thought, well if that's not good tele I’ll eat my hat... I didn't throw up so it wasn't good tele. But I thought that room was beautiful, the way they'd done it. Everything looked beautiful. Very televisual, if you ask me!

Chloe: Lou Sanders went in, she went very grey and nearly threw up because she got motion sickness in a rocking boat. She had to throw some water at a map of the sea which was meant to change colour to reveal a code, but she kept throwing it on the same spot and only getting the number three.

Lou: If it doesn't work the first time, try another six.

Chloe: Then she got really fishy, she slipped around, she went fishing, she was really good at fishing. Lou: I was a maritime hero.

And were you overseeing that one from the control room?

Chloe: Yeah, so I was sat watching Lou as she did the escape room. It was fish themed, and I did feel incredibly sorry for her because she's a vegan and it looked very fishy in tone and smell.

Lou: And then there's a stench to myself as well, which didn't help.

Picture/Interview supplied by UKTV