Anne Hegerty | |
|---|---|
 Hegerty in 2022 | |
| Born | Anne Solway Hegerty 14 July 1958 Westminster, London, England |
| Other names | The Governess |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2010–present |
Anne Solway Hegerty (born 14 July 1958) is an English professional quizzer and television personality. Since 2010, she has been a "chaser" on the ITV game show The Chase as "The Governess", and was a contestant on the 2018 series of the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Anne Solway Hegerty was born in the Westminster area of London on 14 July 1958. She studied journalism at the University of Edinburgh. [1] She started her journalistic career in the 1980s as a reporter and feature writer at the South Wales Argus in Newport, before moving to Manchester. [2] She also worked as a ghostwriter and wrote two books for American children's author Richard Scarry, but she said that the books "were a bit rubbish and nobody bought them". [3]
Hegerty is one of the chasers on the ITV game show The Chase , alongside Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan and Darragh Ennis. As well as being in the British version, she is also a chaser on the Australian version of the show on the Seven Network with fellow British chaser Labbett. [4] Hegerty has made appearances on a number of other quiz shows, including Mastermind , Fifteen to One , Today's the Day , Are You an Egghead? and Brain of Britain . [5] As of October 2016, [update] she was ranked 55th (and second among women) in the World Quizzing Championships. [6]
In November 2013 she competed in the Bolton Premier Quiz League to become Brain of Bolton for the second time. [7] She also competes in the Online Quiz League for team Pericardium, placing 26th individually as of January 2023. [8] Hegerty was the "Phone A Friend" for a competitor, Lisa Harman from Ecclesfield, who was also a contestant on The Chase in 2009, on Who Wants to be A Millionaire in 2010; Harman won £75,000. Hegerty correctly answered the question about the author of Twilight , Stephenie Meyer. [9]
In December 2014, Hegerty appeared in the pantomime Cinderella as the Wicked Stepmother at the Grange Theatre in Northwich. [10] In December 2015, she appeared as Fleshcreep in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at the Civic Hall, Ellesmere Port, [11] which was also booked for performance at Heywood and Radcliffe.
At Easter 2016, Hegerty appeared as the Enchantress in the pantomime Beauty and the Beast , alongside Keith Chegwin and Basil Brush, at the Palace Theatre, Redditch, which sold out, and other venues. [12] From 6 December 2016 until 1 January 2017, she appeared as Blackweed in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, Portsmouth. [13] From 8 to 31 December 2017, she appeared as The Empress of China in the pantomime Aladdin at the Princess Theatre (Torquay). [14] From 18 December 2018 until 6 January 2019, she appeared as Queen Rat in the pantomime Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal (Windsor); Anita Harris played the role until Hegerty returned from I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here. [15] [16] From 5 December 2019 to 5 January 2020, she appeared as Carabosse in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty at Middlesbrough Theatre. [17]
From January 2018 to May 2021, Hegerty presented Britain's Brightest Family on ITV. [18] Hegerty came in 75th place in the World Quizzing Championship of 2018, [19] and 122nd in 2019. [20] In November 2018, Hegerty participated in series 18 of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! , where she finished in seventh place. [21] [2] Outside of television, she appeared in a special video on YouTube with her whispering fan fiction for an ASMR video. [22]
In 2018, she joined 26 other celebrities at Metropolis Studios to record an original Christmas song called "Rock With Rudolph", written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was released digitally through independent record label Saga Entertainment in November 2018 under the artist name the Celebs. The music video debuted exclusively with The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. [23] [24] [25]
In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Hegerty rejoined the Celebs, which now included Frank Bruno and X Factor winner Sam Bailey, to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society and Action for Children. They recorded a new rendition of "Merry Christmas Everyone" by Shakin' Stevens and it was released digitally on 11 December 2020 by Saga Entertainment. The music video debuted on Good Morning Britain the day before the song's release. [26] [27]
In 2021, Hegerty rejoined the Celebs to record a cover of the Beatles classic "Let It Be", a song produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn assisted by Stephen Large. The song was recorded at Metropolis Studios, in support of Mind, and released on 3 December 2021 by Saga Entertainment. Hegerty was part of a choir of celebrities including Georgia Hirst, Ivan Kaye and Eunice Olumide who were backing EastEnders star Shona McGarty. [28] [29] [30]
In September 2022, Hegerty rejoined The Celebs alongside Faye Barker and Jo O'Meara to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, with a rendition of Michael Jackson's song "Thriller", marking the 40th anniversary of the album. [31]
Hegerty lives in Manchester. [2] She is a practising Catholic. [32] She is autistic, which was not diagnosed until 2003 when she was 45. [33]
In 2022, she featured on the ITV programme DNA Journey, when it was revealed that she is of Irish and Scottish descent, and is both a descendant of Robert the Bruce and a distant relative of Elizabeth II. [34]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Mastermind | Contestant | 1 episode |
| 2010–present | The Chase | Chaser / The Governess | 17 series (regular) 13 series (celebrity) 2 series (family) |
| 2015–present | The Chase Australia | Chaser / The Governess | 9 series (regular) 1 series (celebrity) |
| 2018–2021 | Britain's Brightest Family | Presenter | 2 series (regular) 2 series (celebrity) |
| 2018 | I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | Contestant | 5th place |
| 2020–present | Beat the Chasers | Chaser / The Governess | 6 series |
| 2021 | The Chasers Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles | Herself | 1 series |
| 2021 | Catchphrase: Celebrity Christmas Special | Herself | 1 episode |
Christopher Biggins is an English actor and television personality. He became widely known for his roles in television series such as Porridge, Poldark and I, Claudius in the 1970s. He later became known for making frequent appearances as a celebrity on television, which included winning the 2007 series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and has performed frequently in pantomime.
Kara Louise Tointon is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Dawn Swann in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 2010, she won the BBC competition series Strictly Come Dancing, and in 2015, she appeared as Maria in the ITV live production of The Sound of Music Live.
Mark Andrew Labbett, also known by his professional nickname "The Beast", is an English professional quizzer and television personality. Since 2009 he has been one of the "chasers" on the ITV game show The Chase. He previously appeared between 2013 and 2015 on GSN's American version as their sole chaser; between 2016 and 2020 as one of six chasers on the Australian version; and as one of four chasers in the second season of ABC's American revival and from late February 2022 rejoined the Australian version of the show.
Patricia Mary "Kim" Woodburn is an English television personality, writer, and former cleaner. Known as the "Queen of Clean", she came to prominence by co-presenting the Channel 4 series How Clean Is Your House? (2003–2009) and its Canadian version Kim's Rude Awakenings (2007–2009). Woodburn has gone on to appear on various reality television shows, including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2009) and Celebrity Big Brother (2017).
Faye Barker is an English journalist and presenter employed by ITN.
Shona Bernadette McGarty is an English actress and singer, known for her portrayal of Whitney Dean in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2008 to 2024.
Tony Maudsley is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke in the ITV sitcom Benidorm, and George Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2020–present).
The Chase is a British television quiz show broadcast on the ITV network, hosted by Bradley Walsh. Contestants play against a professional quizzer, known as the "chaser", who attempts to prevent them from winning a cash prize.
The ITV Panto was a series of televised pantomimes originally broadcast on ITV in 1998, 2000, and 2002. They have since been repeated over the 20 years since they were filmed. All written by Simon Nye, they included an array of celebrities playing the lead roles.
Shaun Anthony Linford Wallace is an English barrister, lecturer and television personality. He is one of the six "chasers" on the ITV quiz show The Chase. Wallace is a part-time lecturer and visits schools, colleges and other institutions to educate students on aspects of law. In 2004, he won Mastermind and was ranked 286th in the World Quizzing Championships in 2012.
Eunice Olumide MBE is a Scottish fashion model and actress.
The Chase Australia is an Australian television quiz show based on the British program of the same name. It is broadcast on the Seven Network and premiered on 14 September 2015. Four contestants play against an opponent, known as the "chaser", who plays for the bank. The show was originally hosted by Andrew O'Keefe until July 2021, when he was replaced by Larry Emdur. The series began with Brydon Coverdale, Anne Hegerty, Matt Parkinson and Issa Schultz as chasers, with Mark Labbett joining in 2016. Shaun Wallace appeared as a guest chaser in 2018, and Cheryl Toh has appeared as a chaser since 2019. Mara Lejins joined as a chaser in 2022, and David Poltorak joined in 2024. Brandon Blackwell also appeared as a guest in 2024.
Jenny Alexis Ryan is an English quizzer, singer and television personality, best known as one of the six chasers on the ITV game show The Chase, where she is nicknamed "The Vixen".
Issa Schultz is a British-Australian television quiz personality best known for being one of the "chasers" on The Chase Australia, where he is nicknamed "The Supernerd".
Dean Martin Gaffney is an English actor, best known for his role as Robbie Jackson on the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1993 to 2003 and 2017 to 2019; he also made guest appearances in 2004, 2010 and 2015. In 2006, he competed in the sixth series of ITV show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and finished in fifth place.
Cheryl Toh is an Australian lawyer, television personality, quiz champion and has been one of the six "Chasers" on The Chase Australia television quiz show since January 2019.
Georgia Octavia Hirst is an English actress. She is known for her roles as the maiden Torvi in the History series Vikings (2014–2020) and Becky in the zombie horror movie Ravers (2018).
The Celebs are a celebrity supergroup created by Grahame and Jack Corbyn with the intention of raising money for charity. The group was formed in 2018 and consists of a changing mix of TV presenters, musicians, radio DJs, actors and sports personalities.
Saga Entertainment is an independent record label, based in London, founded in 2017 by music producers Grahame and Jack Corbyn. Artists on the label include Sam Bailey, Bargain Hunt, Shona McGarty and the Celebs, a supergroup of celebrities including Frank Bruno, Shona McGarty, Kara Tointon and Lionel Blair.
Catherine Verona Gordon, known professionally as Verona Rose, is an English actress, comedian, television presenter and writer. She is known for writing and starring in various comedy series and for presenting the dating series Secret Crush on ITV2. She is also a regular fixture on British panel shows and was a contestant on the E4 series The Real Dirty Dancing in 2022.