Anne Hegerty

Anne joined The Chase in 2010 and quickly established “The Governess” as one of the show’s most memorable characters. Cool, uncompromising and seemingly impossible to intimidate, her formidable television persona is perfectly balanced by the warmth, humour and self-deprecation audiences have come to know away from the quiz desk. More than fifteen years later, she remains an integral part of one of ITV’s most enduring entertainment successes.

Her success with the format has taken her well beyond the UK. Anne has also appeared as a Chaser on The Chase Australia and, more recently, The Chase New Zealand, further cementing her reputation as one of television’s most internationally recognised professional quizzers. She is also a regular member of the formidable line-up on ITV’s primetime spin-off Beat the Chasers.

Long before television fame, Anne had built a career around words and knowledge. After studying journalism at the University of Edinburgh, she worked as a journalist, writer and proofreader before professional quizzing eventually became her career. Her lifelong fascination with facts and trivia saw her compete on some of Britain’s best-known quiz programmes, including Mastermind, Fifteen to One, Are You an Egghead? and Brain of Britain.

Anne’s television career has extended far beyond The Chase. From 2018 she presented ITV’s Britain’s Brightest Family and in the same year became one of the standout personalities of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!. Her time in the Australian jungle introduced viewers to a very different side of “The Governess”, with Anne’s honesty, humour and resilience earning widespread affection from audiences.

She later joined fellow Chasers Mark Labbett and Shaun Wallace for The Chasers Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles and has continued to appear across entertainment, factual, quiz and talk-show television, proving equally engaging whether answering questions, presenting or simply being herself.

Anne has also spoken candidly about being autistic, having received her diagnosis in 2005 at the age of 46. Her openness about her own experiences has helped bring conversations around autism and neurodiversity to a mainstream audience. During I’m a Celebrity, in particular, her willingness to discuss how autism affects her day-to-day life prompted an extraordinary public response and encouraged greater understanding of the condition.

Away from television, Anne remains a committed and highly accomplished competitive quizzer and is a hugely popular presence at live events. She is in demand for corporate events, awards ceremonies, after-dinner appearances, live quizzes, panel events and personal appearances, where audiences get to experience the quick thinking and brilliantly dry humour behind one of television’s most famous alter egos.

Anne also has extensive live performance experience, including numerous pantomime roles around the UK, demonstrating a theatrical side that television audiences do not always get to see.

Intelligent, funny, candid and completely unmistakable, Anne Hegerty combines genuine intellectual authority with a wonderfully individual sense of humour. Whether appearing as the formidable Governess, entertaining a live audience or speaking openly about her own life and experiences, Anne remains one of British television’s most engaging and enduring personalities.