Anne Hegerty denies cheating on The Chase, insisting there is ‘nothing secret going on’ on the popular ITV quiz show. The 65-year-old former I’m A Celebrity campmate has been a chaser on The Governess, hosted by Bradley Walsh, since 2010, alongside Paul Sinha, Mark Labbett and others.
Over the years, however, she claims to have been accused of ‘all sorts of things’, including wearing an earpiece and somehow’ influencing the show’s outcome’ by Bradley, 63.
The star, who also appears as a chaser in The Chase Australia, denied the allegations and said the ITV show is also judged by independent ‘judges’.
People ask me, ‘Do I cheat?’ or ‘Do you have someone in your ear who tells you the answers?’, she said.
Some people say that Bradley reads the Chasers’ questions faster. I checked with my stopwatch, and he didn’t. If they did that on the show, wouldn’t they get six prettier people?
To the Daily Star, Anne added: ‘Cynics will always be out there, but we have our own independent adjudicators, so there’s no secrets involved. It would be useless if everything wasn’t transparent.’
Anne did, however, once (in 2021) make a joke about Bradley cheating and aiding a viewer.
The question was: ‘In a 2018 stamp set, which London palace shows the Pond Gardens? The Great Fountain Gardens? The Maze?
In Anne’s opinion, Bradley overstated the importance of the word ‘Maze’ as a clue for the player because the correct answer was ‘Hampton Court Palace’, which is home to a maze. ‘I really like how you chose the word MAZE so delicately,’ Anna said. ‘I just wanted her to know.’
Bradley said, ‘I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it! Did you hear that? I did not do that!’
However, he later joked about it and used over-the-top words throughout the remainder of the game.
At the National Television Awards, Anne previously revealed that she has no plans to leave The Chase. She said: “I always said I was on the show until it got cancelled, and at the Baftas that changed to “until it gets cancelled”. Actually, I meant until they stopped commissioning the show, but I have no plans to leave.”
Anne went on to say, “I can’t believe Bradley is leaving as a host. I can’t think of anyone better to replace him.”
She added, ‘I sometimes have conversations with Mark where he says, ‘if Bradley goes, who do you think would take his place?’ and I say, ‘I don’t think so.’
