Why Anne Hegerty and The Chase stars ‘hope’ no new chasers will be added anytime soon

The long-running television quiz show The Chase UK has built up a loyal fan base with a regular cast of quiz masters who entertain viewers with their impressive knowledge, quick recall and biting wit.

Since first going to air in 2009, the quiz show has gone on to become one of the most successful quiz shows in the UK and has made stars of its Chasers Anne Hegerty, Mark Labbett, Jenny Ryan, Paul Sinha, Shaun Wallace and newcomer, Darragh Ennis.

Unsurprisingly, the tight-knit team are reluctant to see more quizmasters on the show but it’s not about ego and all about their pay, according to Hegerty.

Speaking to The Mirror, the 66 year old quizmaster said none of the formidable quizzers receive a set salary and their pay structure is affected by additional team members.

“We are paid per show, so we’re not on a salary. It’s not as if they’re going to up the budget and add a new salary,” she said.

“A new chaser would just mean the same number of shows shared between more people, so less money for everyone. So, hope not.”

Asked if there were any plans for new quizmasters, Hegerty told the paper, “well, we do always hope not.”

Despite her admission, Hegerty, who plays The Governess, is glad newcomer Darragh joined the program’s line-up in 2020.

“You know, Darragh has been a very good new addition, he’s very popular, and that’s worthwhile,” she said.

Hegerty likes to share insights about the program that made her famous and recently revealed that the quizmasters are close friends away from the show.

In a previous 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.