An Interview with Josh Murphy On The Chase, Battersea Park & Why Nobody Wears Their Heart On Their Sleeve Anymore
Somewhere between a rom-com and a run club, Josh Murphy has built one of the internet's funniest experiments in modern dating. The premise of The Chase, his Instagram and TikTok series, is almost stupidly simple: Murphy and his mates jog around Battersea Park chasing down eligible men and women, phone numbers in hand, while his best friend Grace decides who's worth catching. It sounds like a bit, and it is one. But, somehow it’s resulted in real dates, a Happy Socks campaign, and a couple now flying transatlantic to see each other.
Murphy is a stand-up comedian first, and it shows: the show has the rhythm of a bit that got out of hand in the best possible way.
“I don’t think people wear their hearts on their sleeves enough anymore, and there’s something very romantic about going, ‘I like you, so I’m going to run after you and tell you I like you’ - obviously within the realm of a comedy show, in broad daylight.”
It's also, whether he intended it or not, a fairly sharp piece of cultural observation, arriving at the exact moment running clubs have become the thing everyone's talking about as the new place to meet someone. We sat down with Murphy to talk about the idea, the cringe of pretending you're at a running club “for the running,” and why his own love life remains, in his words, “incredibly, incredibly dry.”
The moment running and dating collided…
I remember sitting in my room trying to think of a show that felt funny and current, but also different from everything else on social media. Running is obviously super trendy on socials right now, but I never see comedy in that world, it's all taken quite seriously. So the first thing I thought was that there was a gap in the market to mix comedy and running.
Then I thought about how I've always slightly loved the idea of a chase, in a romantic sense. I love a rom-com, especially the moments where someone literally runs after the person they like, that bit in When Harry Met Sally where Harry runs to the New Year's Eve party to tell Sally how he feels. There's something quite sweet about that kind of shameless keenness.
A week later I texted my mate Grace to see if she was up for chasing some fit men in a park, and luckily she was keen. Too keen, actually, it was slightly concerning.
I also don't think people wear their hearts on their sleeves enough anymore, and there's something very romantic about going, ‘I like you, so I'm going to run after you and tell you’ - obviously within the realm of a comedy show, in broad daylight. So that's mainly how the idea came about.
Stand-up comes first, but the show earns its own stage…
I still do stand-up all the time, and I love it, but this show feels like an easy way to get my sense of humour in front of a broader audience. A lot of people I know don't really enjoy watching stand-up, but they still love having a laugh, this felt like a way to get those people's attention.
Why Battersea Park…
It's full of fit, good-looking influencers, and young people love it.
Episode one, in a nutshell…
It was me, Grace, and Fraser and Jackson - my best mates, and the guys who produce the show, laughing about how ridiculous the whole idea was. We chased after about five guys who all declined to be in the video. Then, just as we were about to give up, we found a lad who was keen. I completely panicked and couldn't think of anything to ask him. But as soon as we got one phone number, we were flying. You're welcome, Grace.
The sign-up answers that get someone picked…
The form asks ‘pint or coffee after’ and ‘stamina or banter, and why.’ The people who get picked are the ones who say something slightly nuts and show themselves to be fun, or the ones who go completely off topic.
Matchmaking, or just a good episode…
I'd say 50/50. I love setting people up, of course. I also absolutely love attention and making people laugh. This show feels like a healthy balance, I get to set up love, but also feed my own narcissistic tendencies. It's great.
On running clubs as the new singles bars…
I know people do go to running clubs to date, but I also know a lot of them find it slightly awkward and cringe. I think it's because it feels forced, people are going to running clubs pretending they're doing it for the running, when really they just want to meet someone. Whereas with The Chase, it's so on the nose and so ridiculous that there's nothing to hide from. You're not pretending you're doing the show ‘to go on a run’, you're in it to fall deeply in love with someone, and everyone's aware of that.
Has it changed how I date…
No. My love life is still incredibly, incredibly dry.
The genuine success story…
Yes - a lot of people from the show have gone on dates with each other. We recently filmed an advert for Happy Sockswith an amazing American woman called Madelyn, who's now exclusive with one of the guys she met on the show. He flies to America quite regularly to see her, and we're trying to get a follow-up as soon as possible. I could tell straight away they had great chemistry, not to mention they're both beautiful people. Good for them. I'm not jealous. At all.
Where The Chase goes from here…
We've just got back from New York after filming a lot of episodes out there, which was really fun. We've had brands from Australia and Sweden reach out too.
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The Chase is a comedy dating series on Instagram and TikTok created by stand-up comedian Josh Murphy, in which he and his friends chase down potential dates through Battersea Park.
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Almost entirely in Battersea Park, though Murphy and his team have recently filmed episodes in New York, with more international interest - including from Australia and Sweden - in the pipeline.
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Yes. Several pairs from the show have gone on to date, including one contestant now exclusive with a woman he met while filming a Happy Socks collaboration.
THE WELL EDIT VIEW
We've written before about being “too well to date” - the very-2020s problem where the optimising gets so thorough there's no room left for spontaneity, or a second date that starts with a pint instead of a protein shake. For a while, the pattern looked fairly linear: people were swapping the pub for a 6am run, and dating along with it.
What The Chase captures, deliberately or not, is the next stage of that story. We're now seeing a rising cohort trying to have both at once, rather than choosing. Influencers like Schooner Scorer have built entire followings on exactly that split screen, out for drinks in the evening, chasing a sub-15-minute 5K the next morning, no apparent contradiction between the two. It’s at the heart of what we believe at The Well Edit and why Eleanor posted her pre and post alcohol guide. It's less a rejection of the running-club-as-dating-scene trend than a refusal to let either half of the week win.
Murphy's version just makes explicit what everyone doing this half-earnestly already knows: you're not really there for the running. You're there to be chased.
Words by The Well Edit.
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