In the high-stakes world of televised quizzing, where quick wit and encyclopedic knowledge reign supreme, it’s not often that camaraderie takes centre stage.
However, Anne Hegerty, the beloved “Governess” of the hit show The Chase, recently opened up about the close bond that exists among the show’s formidable quizmasters.
In a recent interview with The Express, Hegerty peeled back the curtain on her off-screen relationship with her fellow Chasers revealing a bond that is as strong as the competition that exists on the popular game show.
“We get on well,” she told the publication.
“If someone is having a bad time, if someone [a chaser] was losing a lot, we’d kind of be very reassuring because it could be any of us.
“And we do socialise a lot. Especially when Mark [Labett] is down. Mark is probably the Chaser I know best.
“When he’s filming there’s a restaurant we go to where they know us and people don’t eavesdrop.”
Hegerty even revealed the Chasers are all part of a secret chat group where they often air their grievances about the show’s producers.
“We have WhatsApp. We have one WhatsApp group that’s got the producers in and another one that hasn’t got the producers in so we can b**** about them,” she revealed.
In addition to lifting the curtain on the special relationship she shares with her fellow quizmasters, Hegerty recently opened up about how appearing on the popular game show has transformed her life.
From making her first ever TV appearance in 1988 as a contestant on Mastermind to then becoming a fan favourite on The Chase and even competing on I’m a Celebrity…get me out of here! back in 2018, Hegerty revealed she had been left “amazed” by her journey.
“People ask me, ‘How has The Chase changed your life?’ and I say, ‘Completely.’ It feels like nothing is the same,” she told Now to Love.
“I’d never been popular and I’m absolutely amazed by all these people who love me.
“I think, ‘Well, you obviously can’t know me terribly well!’ But yeah, it’s nice.”
Amidst her devoted legion of fans, Hegerty disclosed that she has also garnered attention from a number of male admirers.
“I’m very happy with my own company, so I tend to let them down gently,” she said.
“But it’s nice to know that there are that many options out there if I want it.”