Bradley Walsh :: TV :: The Chase - Meet the Chasers The Chase - Meet the Chasers The Chase - Meet the Chasers Bradley Walsh hosts the show, but the brains behind The Chase are the four Chasers who aim to beat the contestants. Paul Sinha Paul Sinha, is brand new to the show and will be seen in series 4. He is a qualified GP and an award winning stand-up comedian, but has a passion for quizzes. Although he has appeared on Are You An Egghead?, Brain of Britain, Mastermind, University Challenge and The Weakest Link he has yet to win any of them, but has come close. He achieves a high ranking at the British Quiz Association, but will that be enough to beat the contestants in Series 4? Mark Labbett Mark Labbett, otherwise known as The Beast has appeared twice on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? winning a total of £48,000. He came second in The National Lottery People's Quiz, and won BBC Four quiz Only Connect. He has been on Mastermind, University Challenge, 15 to 1 and even put up his own ï¿½1,000 to compete on the knock out tournament "Grand Slam".

Mark is a maths teacher from Wales, and is a pub quiz champion. Shaun Wallace Shaun Wallace is a barrister from North London. He won the title Mastermind Champion 2004. Living in the shadows of Wembley stadium his specialist subject is of course football. Other television quiz appearances include Egg Heads, 15 to 1, Greed, Beat the Nation, Brainteaser, and the Weakest Link. Anne Hegerty Anne Hegerty joined Mark and Shaun on Series two, but has proven to hold the highest catch rate in the first 3 series. A freelance editor and journalist, Anne is known as The Governess she was a proof reader and lives in Manchester. Anne too has a long list of previous game show appearances including the original series of Mastermind with Magnus Magnusson. She then returned for the new Mastermind with John Humphrys, 15 to 1, Todayï¿½s The Day, Are You An Egghead?, and Brain of Britain. Be A Contestant On The Chase Fancy your chances? Fill out the application form if you think you can take on The Chasers. The Chase: US Edition The Beast takes on the Americans in The Chase USA .

The Chase App on Itunes Download now The Chase app for your Apple iphone, ipad & ipod touch that allows you to play against the chasers. The Chase Board Game The Chase | Game Shows Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit A team of three contestants attempt to amass as much money as possible to put into a team bank by answering general-knowledge questions. The money earned will go into the bank, but there is one person standing in their way: a quiz genius known as The Beast. The Beast's job is to catch each contestant and make sure the players are not able to put the money in the bank which the team must collectively play for in "The Final Chase". To begin, each player comes up one at a time and plays a game called "Cash Builder". In this game, each is given one minute to answer as many questions as possible with each correct answer worth $5,000. The more correct answers given, the more money the players could add into the bank. After the minute is up, the player's money is placed three steps down on an eight-step money board.

The player may remain at this step and play for the money they have won, but if they so wish, they can be placed one step lower down the board for a smaller award, or one step further up the board for a greater award, with each award's value being set by The Beast. The lower award can occasionally be a negative amount of money. If the player elects to play for the greater reward, The Beast is two steps behind them and the player must answer six questions correctly to reach the end. If the player elects to remain where they are, The Beast is three steps behind them and the player must answer five questions correctly to reach the end. However, if the player elects to play for the smaller reward, The Beast is four steps behind them and the player must answer four questions correctly to reach the end. On occasion, The Beast can offer a more greater award, if this happens The Beast is one step behind them and the player must answer seven questions to reach the end. On rare occasions, the Chaser may escalate the stakes by offering a "super offer" for an even higher amount, with the contestant being required to answer seven questions correctly without being caught.

Once the player nominates their starting position, they must answer questions correctly in order to reach the bottom of the board and bank their money. Both the player and The Beast are given the same multiple choice question with three possible answers, then must secretly press one of the three buttons on their keypad to lock in their answer. If the player and/or The Beast is correct, they move one step down the board, but if wrong, they must remain where they are. The Beast's job is to catch up to the player and eliminate them from the game by capitalizing on the mistakes the player makes before they can reach the bottom of the board. If this happens, the player is out of the game and the cash disappears, and as the saying goes, the chase is over, but if the player reaches the bottom, their money is put into the team's prize pot which will be contested for in the final round. This is repeated for all three players. The players who successfully outrun The Beast proceed to The Final Chase.

If all three players are caught, then their prize fund is set to $15,000 and the team must nominate one player to proceed to The Final Chase, which is called a "Consolation Chase." The Final Chase Edit In the final round, all or the remaining players answer as many questions as possible in two minutes to amass as many spaces as possible. The more questions answered correctly, the players increase their chances to avoid being caught. To start, they are given one space per remaining member of the team. In the case of all three players being caught, then the one nominated person will receive a one-step head start, as opposed to having no head start at all. To answer a question, the player must press his/her own buzzer and only s/he can answer it. Upon buzzing in, an off-stage voice says that person's name. But sometimes if the contestant is right and at the same time the other contestant presses the button, it is counted as a wrong person answer, and they can't accept. In the event there's only one player in the Final Chase, that player is not required to press the buzzer. After the two minutes are up, The Beast is brought in and is told how many spaces the players collected.

The Beast is given a further two minutes of quick-fire questions to attempt to catch the team. If The Beast gets any question wrong or can't answer it, or sometimes The Beast interrupts the question, the clock is stopped and the question is thrown over to the players. If they get the answer correct, The Beast is pushed back one step and the clock is resumed. If the players answer The Beast's question correctly while The Beast is on zero steps, an extra step is added to the players' total. If The Beast succeeds in catching the team, the team leaves with nothing, and again, the chase is over, but if the team is not caught by The Beast when time is up, the prize pot is split equally between the remaining team players. Should only one player make it to the Final Chase and win, then that player gets the full amount. Setup Edit The question text has one very long rounded rectangle for the question & 3 long thin rounded rectangles for the answers. The rounded squares that read "Beast Locked" appears on the right of the question while the "Player Locked" appears on the left of the question. When a player faces the beast, he tells Brooke and the contestant what he said.

In the final chase, a background voice says out contestant's name for whoever buzzed in to attempt to answer the question. Season 2 Edit The Beast doesn't say his answer for any question in the main chase. The background voice is removed for the final chase and is replaced with the names highlighted in yellow. In the final chase, the contestants had a choice of 2 question sets during the commercial break. Season 3 Edit The rounded squares for "Player Locked" & Beast Locked" changed to look like thin rounded rectangles & they both appear on top of the question instead of on the sides. The Beast would either give his answer after the correct answer was given or Brooke would ask the Beast what he said without say. The TV viewers got to see the money added on the team podium. Whenever the team gets caught by the Beast, the amount of money drops down from the team podium screen. Contestants and their winnings 12 (0:45) Beast The January 27th episode featured three past contestants who lost their games. Not only did they redeemed themselves to outrun the beast in the main chase and advance onto the final chase, but they won $35,000 each in the final chase.

The February 3rd episode was a celebrity episode featuring Carson Kressly (How to Look Good Naked, playing for Pediatric Cancer Foundation), Tatyana M. Ali (playing for Self-Inquiring Life Fellowship), and Cameron Matheson (Good Morning America, playing for Meditation Center Hollywood). As the team was eliminated, their charities earned $5,000 each. The March 10th episode was a celebrity episode featuring cast members of Scandal: Joe Morton (playing for the Miami Children's Initiative & Make Some Noise), Kate Burton (playing for Broadway Cares, American Theatre Wing, and Brown University), and Brian Lesher (playing for A Place Called Home). As the team was eliminated, their charities earned $5,000 each. Season Edit The Chase has become one of the highest rated original programs in GSN's history. The series debuted to 511,000 total viewers during its premiere while maintaining 90% of its audience with 461,000 total viewers during the second episode airing that night.

On January 28, 2014, The Chase set a new series high in terms of total viewers and adults 18–49, with 827,000 and 234,000 viewers respectively. Season one The first season of The Chase premiered new episodes Tuesday nights at 9:00 P.M., except for episode 2 which aired immediately after the premiere of episode 1 at 10:00 P.M. U.S. Nielsen ratings Mark Labbett , Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha and Jenny Ryan 2009 Additional Note: In Australia, the Seven Network had once considered producing a local version of the show for the network and has filmed a pilot using the original UK set but has later decided not to proceed. Additionally, reruns of the UK version airs weekday afternoons at 3pm to good ratings. However, as of May 2015 it is rumored that the network may have a renewed interest in doing their own version of the show. The Australian version (hosted by Andrew O'Keefe) premiered on September 14, 2015.

Merchandise British Game Shows: The Chase | Special Topics In Gameology | The Gameological Society Special Topics In Gameology British Game Shows: The Chase A clever David-and-Goliath format that thrives on the speed round. By John Teti • May 14, 2012 Special Topics In Gameology is an in-depth look at a specific corner of the gaming world, in miniseries form. For our first edition of the feature, John Teti surveys the current slate of British game shows. Last week’s entry introduced the series with a review of Pointless . This week: The Chase. The Chase Elevator pitch: Trivia schmoes versus trivia pros. Channel: ITV Running time: 60 minutes (including commercials) Host: Actor and comedian (and ex-pro soccer player) Bradley Walsh. The cast also includes a regular slate of four trivia-guru “Chasers”—one of whom faces off against the contestants in each episode. The Chaser’s ranks include golem-esque math teacher Mark Labbett, laconic barrister Shawn Wallace, prim and ruthless faux-governess Anne Hegerty, and chipmunk-cheeked wit Paul Sinha. The concept of The Chase is simple.

Four regular folks try to beat a quiz-circuit ringer in a trivia contest. Davids versus Goliath. Yet the simplicity of the idea is deceptive. It’s one thing to say that a team of “amateur” brains would match up well against one genius and quite another thing to strike that balance on a day-to-day basis. Over the course of its one-hour running time, The Chase manages to build to an exciting climax more often than not, and sometimes it’s downright exhilarating. It’s a case study in how to design a game for television. The Chase is more complex than your typical daytime game show, but it wears that complexity well. A team of four strangers plays the game. In each round of the main game, one player breaks away from the team to play a 60-second speed round and build up a pot of cash—£1,000 for each correct answer. That pot is placed on a ladder, with “home” at the bottom and the Chaser at the top. To add the pot to the team bank, the player must work their way down the ladder by answering multiple-choice questions—each correct answer gets them one step closer to home.

Yet the Chaser is close behind, answering the same questions at the same time. If the Chaser catches up before the player gets home, the money is gone and the player is eliminated from the game for good. The player gets a three-step head start, but there’s a twist. If the contestant agrees to a mere two-step head start, the pot grows much larger. On the other hand, an extra step can be had in exchange for a reduced pot. Taking the former option is considered the height of valor and/or greed; the latter is vaguely shameful. The crowning glory of The Chase is its endgame, the Final Chase. The contestants who survived the main game play as a team in an extremely fast-paced two-minute speed round; each correct answer adds another step to their path. Once they’re done, the Chaser gets two minutes to catch the contestants. If they’re caught, the team leaves with nothing. If the Chaser falls short, the contestants win their bank at long last. The on-air talent and direction on this show are fantastic. In a format that vacillates between frenzy and calm dozens of times in the course of an hour, host Bradley Walsh has a preternatural sense for how to set the tone.

He seems to shift effortlessly from the warm, winking humor of the personal Chases to the staccato hypertension of the rapid-fire Q&A sections. (I haven’t seen anyone conduct a speed round with this type of earnest, focused excitement since Jim Perry on the American Sale Of The Century.) Early on, the producers discovered that Walsh has a weakness for goofy humor, so every once in a while, they’ll toss in a question that’s obviously designed to make Walsh lose it in spite of his best efforts: Walsh is a broadcaster by trade, but the Chasers are genuine nerds, having won “fame” on other game shows or in quiz-bowl championships. And while The Chase does play up the characters it has created for its ringers—Mark Labbett the hulking brute, Anne Hegerty the emasculating schoolmarm—the producers are wise enough not to push this conceit too far. The Chasers come across as full-bodied human beings playing a game that they love (and they play with ferocity) rather than central-casting types collecting a paycheck.

I find it hard to imagine many American producers who could exercise this same restraint, which requires an admission that it’s entertaining enough to watch people play a good game—that not every moment needs to be produced. That type of confidence is special enough on British TV; it’s downright rare among modern shows on these shores. All of the Chasers are a pleasure to watch, but my personal favorite by a small margin is Paul Sinha, the cheerfully sarcastic man in the white suit. (Outside the Chase studio, he has a career as a stand-up comic, which figures.) Paul is the only one who’s enough of a smartass to, say, characterize the staff on his own show as lonely and weird, as seen in this clip: (Note also that Walsh manages to resist the bait this time.) Like most quiz shows, The Chase rewards contestants with a deep reservoir of general knowledge, but the main game is shrewdly designed to allow lesser minds a chance at success. Not every player runs the same race during their personal Chase. Because everyone is given a choice between a two-, three-, or four-step head start, the contestants are essentially allowed to set the difficulty of the game to suit their own confidence.

The adjustable setup keeps more players in the mix. Plus, the questions in the personal Chase rounds are multiple-choice, so merely average players can still bumble their way into the final. For instance, the college stoner on the team may not be great on politics or science, but if he catches a little luck, he might be able to survive the main game and contribute his knowledge of pop music in the Final Chase. And there’s the implicit value judgment of The Chase’s team of strangers: Everyone has something to contribute. You don’t necessarily have to know all the answers, but to maximize your winnings, you do have to know yourself and play the game to the edge of your abilities—no further. The final round is a masterful feat of rules engineering. Again, the premise appears simple on the screen: The contestants get two minutes, and then the Chaser gets the same. But the amateurs have a couple of advantages. They get a head start of one step for every player that survived the main game, and if the Chaser gets a question wrong, they have the opportunity to jump in with the correct answer and “push back” their pursuer.

The Chaser has a subtle advantage, too, though: The players have to buzz in to answer, and the Chaser does not. This ends up depriving the contestants of valuable seconds, especially in those deadly moments of group paralysis when none of them knows the answer but nobody wants to be presumptuous and pass the question. The team has to know itself to win. One of the smartest touches of the Final Chase is the unusually long two-minute speed round afforded to both sides. The length of time allows small narrative arcs to develop: Players can falter in the first minute and rally in the second. It also reduces fluky rounds, and thanks to a ruleset that gives the contestants just enough of an edge, causes the Final Chase to come down to its last few seconds with amazing frequency. It’s in these last few seconds that The Chase crystallizes into a elemental pursuit of knowledge. As Walsh’s voice speeds up, the game turns into a sort of experiment. Its objective: to find the purest exchange of question and answer two human beings can manage. How long does it take to request a piece of knowledge and receive it? Not as long as you think. I always find myself looking at the clock and doing the math.

“Twenty seconds left,” I think. “A person couldn’t possibly answer six questions in that time.” I ALWAYS think something like this. And I’m repeatedly confounded. That dilation of time might be The Chase’s greatest trick. Two minutes is a long time by game-show standards, but then again, it’s consistently amazing how much The Chase can accomplish in those 120 seconds. In high school, my cross-country running coach used to tell us to focus on the runner in front of us, because our minds perceive a chase differently than running a race course. It’s human nature, and it’s deep, the kind of programming that resides down in the brain stem. When we tap into that programming, we can accomplish things that defy the assumptions of our rational mind. The Chase has found a way to go there almost every day, and the fun of the resulting surprise never seems to wear off. Share this with your friends and enemies on TWITTER The Chase (Series) - TV Tropes The Chase You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share WMG British Game Show hosted by Bradley Walsh. A team of four players, never having met before, have the chance to take home thousands of pounds.

There's only one thing standing in their way; the Chaser . The chase is on. For the first round, each team member (in turn) builds up cash by answering quick fire trivia questions on a one minute clock. For each correct answer, the player earns £1,000. Then they must take it to the table, where they encounter the Chaser for the first time. Starting three steps ahead of the Chaser, they can take a free step toward home for a reduction in the prize money, or take a step note (Or two on the American Version; see Flawless Victory and Schmuck Bait below) towards the Chaser for an improved prize. Then both Chaser and contestant answer multiple-choice trivia questions. If either gets it right, they move a step down the table. The contestant attempts to get home (in which case that money goes into the prize fund), while the Chaser tries to reach the contestant (in which case that player is removed from the game, along with their money). In the final round, any team members that have survived their individual chases take part in the Final Chase.

On the buzzer, and against a two-minute clock, the team must set as high a mark as they can (gaining an extra step for each member of the team that survived). After they set the mark, the Chaser has the same two minutes to catch the team. If the Chaser gets a question wrong, the team has a chance to move him/her back a space by answering it correctly themselves. If the team is caught, they leave with nothing; otherwise, the surviving team members split the entire prize. The original two Chasers were Mark Labbett ("The Beast") and Shaun Wallace ("The Dark Destroyer"), with Anne Hegerty ("The Governess") joining in 2010, followed by Paul Sinha ("The Sinnerman") in 2011 and Jenny Ryan ("The Vixen") in 2015.

All five are renowned quizzers of a similar calibre to Eggheads, including a Mastermind winner in the form of Wallace.note (In fact, all five have competed on Are You an Egghead?, with Wallace reaching the Series 1 final and Hegerty reaching the Series 2 semi-finals; Labbett and Ryan even faced each other in Series 1 (Ryan won), as did Hegerty and Ryan in Series 2 (Hegerty won).) An American adaption, with Mark Labbett (promoted as " The Beast " as opposed to his real name) as the single Chaser and Brooke Burns hosting was also picked up by GSN. Changes were limited to a 3 man team, a $5,000 a question cashbuilder, occasional six-figure "Super Offers"note (If invoked, The Beast offered the player an even higher offer than the "one step closer to the danger" option; however, the player had to answer seven questions correctly without getting caught to bank their cash, and a single wrong answer = caught and thrown out if The Beast didn't get any questions wrong..), and a Live Studio Audience .

It was cancelled two episodes into it's fifth season, with the network claiming that it was too expensive to continue producing. It's also seen in Britain on the Challenge channel, where it's billed as The Chase USA. The Chase Australia began airing on Australia's Seven Network in September 2015. The Australian version is hosted by Andrew O'Keefe and features Anne Hegerty and local Chasers Matt Parkinson, Issa Schultz, and Brydon Coverdale. Mark Labbett joins the lineup in 2016. Each correct answer in the cash-builder round earns $2,000. Not to be confused with Sci Fi Channel 's Cha$e . Also read Win Ben Stein's Money , which was a ring-in game show that also offered contestants a chance to beat the titular quizmaster for some quick cash. This show contains examples of: Actually Pretty Funny : Occasionally, Bradley - or a contestant - will get this reaction from one of the Chasers. Paul: [after a particularly lengthy lecture ] But other than that, it was a bit of a guess.

Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty on ITV’s hit quiz ‘The Chase’ | Attitude Magazine Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty on ITV’s hit quiz ‘The Chase’ We chat to the mistress of trivia about her fierce performances on ITV's teatime quiz 'The Chase'. If you’ve caught a few episodes of ITV’s teatime quiz The Chase while taking a “personal day” or two off work – hey, we’re not judging – you’ll have come across Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty, the show’s mistress of trivia, doyenne of details, full-to-brimming font of general knowledge… Basically, she’s fierce, feisty and really knows her stuff – our kinda girl – so I gave her a call for a chat. Hi Anne. Obviously there are lots of quiz shows on TV, but The Chase stands out as one of the most popular and certainly prolific. I think you’re on over 500 episodes now? “Yes, we have shown our 500th episode and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re now over 600. Mark (aka ‘The Beast’) keeps a lot of statistics so he’s the kind of person that would know.

I’m really bad at numbers but I know we’ve made lots and lots of episodes.” What do you think it is about the show that people love? “I think they like the sort of triangular nature of it. There’s the host, the contestant and someone else that things are being bounced off – it’s not just the host and the contestant. The host and the contestant are ganging up on these other people. I like that you’ve got Bradley (Walsh) with his cheeky chappy persona and then you’ve got these four snobs up top (the chasers) and it’s his job to make the snobs look stupid.” Why is your nickname ‘The Governess’? “Originally the producer wanted to call me ‘The Headmistress’ and I didn’t really like that much, but then during rehearsals Brad started calling me The Governess. I liked that better, it’s more kinky. I suppose a governess is freelance and she doesn’t have Ofsted breathing down her neck, whereas a headmistress is more constrained.” Your other nickname is ‘Frosty Knickers’, which is a little less flattering… “Frosty Knickers actually came about in rehearsals.

We were playing lots of practice chases, with members of the crew standing in as contestants, and at one point Brad said to the member of the crew in question: ‘She’s cold, this one. We call her Frosty Knickers.’ I looked at the contestant and said, ‘He knows nothing about my knickers.’ That was the point that it was cemented that it was okay to call me that. I like getting called Frosty Knickers. I’ve heard people have been a little bit offended by it on my behalf but I’m not offended by it at all, I think it’s funny.” My favourite bit about the show, which probably says a lot about me, is the march you do when it’s time for you to come out to face the contestants. How long did it take you to perfect that march? “Quite some time. The other chasers are all quite tall, whereas I’m 5’6”, which is quite a difference. So you see the boys sort of strolling down the walkway in time to the music, while I’m basically power-walking to the chair.

If you look, you’ll see that the jacket I wear has actually got a breastpocket on the left-hand side with a little hanky in it. Well, the thing is, you may also have noticed that I’m not actually under-endowed in the boob department, and when I do the walk, the boobs are coming along too but on their own timetable. They don’t stop when the music stops. I found that when I walked down the walkway the hanky would tend to jump out of the pocket, so we had to stick it down with a bit of sticky tape.” On the show it’s your job to eliminate every contestant and prevent the team from winning. Have there ever been occasions where you’ve secretly rooted for the contestant to succeed? “None of the chasers would ever throw a single question, let alone the final chase. That said, if you knock all four of them out, what they do is nominate a player to come back and play the final chase for a nominal £4000, so if that player then beats you all four end up with £1000 each.

There have been times when I have knocked the first three out and then looked at the last player and thought ‘this woman is not as smart as the man they would bring back if I knock her out, and she’s actually playing for less money, so in fact if I let her get through I’m making it easier for me in the final chase’. But I still don’t let her through because I’m still always going to try and play as well as I can.” That’s not the answer I was expecting. I thought that sometimes, maybe the sob stories about how they would use the cash might make you more sympathetic. “No. I have had to work at my quizzing so they can work at their quizzing too. I don’t mean to sound horrible and evil, but it is their job to out-run us. We are not going to stop chasing them or chase them less passionately – no matter how sad their stories. It doesn’t work like that. We’re working for ITV and we are not in a position to be giving away ITV’s money. So if the contestants want the money, let them win it, because we are not going to just lose it.” So you’re equally as ruthless on the celebrity versions of the show for charity?

“Well, we certainly try to be. For some reason the celebrities do seem to win more. We sort of have this feeling that they do get asked rather more celebrity-friendly questions than we do. They’ve stopped telling us who the celebs are in advance, so we can’t go and look them up, so actually we tend to be at a disadvantage.” Ideally which celebrity would you want to take on? “Oh, I’ve already taken on the celebrity I really wanted to. I can’t tell you who it is because it hasn’t been shown yet, but there is one person that I’ve been asking after for about four years and I finally got given that person. So I can die happy now, I have no more ambitions. In general though they tend to put me up against the mad Tory lady. I played Ann Widdecombe, I played Edwina Currie and I’ve played Nadine Dorries. They were all good fun, good value. I think everyone just likes to see two battleaxes battling it out.” In a face-off, are you confident that you could beat the other chasers? “It depends on quite a lot of things.

Mark is fast in a buzzer quiz but either he will do brilliantly or he will crash and burn, having misunderstood what the question is going to be. Shaun (aka ‘the Dark Destroyer’) can beat anyone in the world when it comes to football. I remember once, we were in the Daybreak green room and I saw him absolutely taking Robbie Savage apart after Robbie decided to get a bit smart-arse with him. Shaun turned round and asked him really simple questions that he didn’t know, about the Welsh national team that he’s supposed to play for. As for Paul (aka ‘The Sinnerman’), he is the best of us at the moment in the current quiz rankings. He’s at number ten in the UK and I’m at number eleven. There are certain people that I want to beat and one of them is Paul because I want to be the top chaser.” For a contestant coming on the show, is there a strategy to prepare? I imagine there are certain standard things that you should learn, such as every US president, capital cities and so on. “I’m not really tempted to tell contestants how to beat us, but yes, have a good basic knowledge.

All the best quizzers are extremely strong in either history or geography because with almost any question, you can figure out a plausible answer by knowing one or other of those things. I’m pretty good on history. I’m also good on language, so quite often I can figure out what a word means just simply by knowing by what it looks like it means in Greek or Latin. There’s a wonderful website called Sporcle which I use. I’ve played games on there to try and drill into my head the countries of the world, the capitals, where they are, which is the biggest and the smallest, and American presidents. I already knew all the monarchs of England in order and their dates from 1066 onwards.” What other revision techniques do you use? “There’s an American online quiz that I play called Learned League and there’s a British franchise version of that too, so I’m generally doing two or three online quizzes pretty much when I wake up first thing in the morning. What I’ve also started trying to do is read a bunch of magazines and newspapers every week and then sit down and write myself questions based on what I’ve read.

I put the questions and the answers on a website called Studystack.com and it will throw up the questions to you as flashcards in a random order. When you’ve seen the question about five times and got it wrong every time, by the sixth time you will actually remember it.” So is that how sometimes you answer questions quite confidently that, with respect, I never assume you’d know? Things like the name of Jessie J’s Number One single last year. “Yes! Well, the thing is I was madly into the pop charts until about the early ‘80s, when I thought ‘right, I’m in my mid-twenties now, I’m too old for this stuff’, so I basically stopped paying attention. A few years ago I thought that I ought to catch up, so I started watching the chart shows. Also since I discovered downloading music – what a perfectly brilliant invention that is – my phone basically became like a little record player that people sometimes call me on. I hear about a track and think ‘okay, I don’t know about that one’ so I go and listen to it on YouTube.

One song I’ve had jammed in my head for the last few days is The Proclaimers’ Letter From America, which everyone knew about 25 years ago but I’ve only just heard. It’s brilliant. Paul is really the mad keen Jessie J fan though. I don’t mind her but there are people I like more.” The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV. The Chase EXCLUSIVE: We meet Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan – the hit show's brand new star! | Metro News Duncan Lindsay for Metro.co.uk Monday 31 Aug 2015 10:00 am (Picture: ITV) Everyone loves summer – well, except The Chase fans. The hugely popular teatime quiz hit is in the midst of its annual hiatus from our screens, leaving desperate viewers resorting to repeats of Pointless for their quiz show fix. But never fear, the show, which sees a ruthless and witty quiz titan chase down money-hungry contestants, is about to return. And there’s a brand new face amongst the line-up.

We all have our favourite Chaser, whether it’s frosty Anne Hegerty, moody Shaun Wallace, sarcastic Paul Sinha or fearsome Mark Labbett but there is now a fifth genius seeking to destroy financial dreams of glory. Metro.co.uk got to know ‘Bolton Braniac’ Jenny Ryan, aka The Vixen, to find out what is in store for the contestants she faces. (Picture: ITV) Here, she exclusively reveals how she got her foxy nickname, how she deals with cheeky contestants and the one thing she is certainly not looking forward to facing when she makes her first appearance. Metro.co.uk: How did your role in The Chase come about? Jenny: I was actually recommended at the beginning of 2014. Anne (Hegerty, aka The Governess) approached me as I am on a quiz league team with her. I’m the captain so I get to boss her around! She approached me and said she’d heard the producers were thinking of adding a new Chaser and they were looking for a female quizzer. If they were going to add another woman, she said she’d like for it to be someone she knew.

There was a six month recruitment process, I was in the running with a few others and we were assessed to see who, if any, would be a fit. It’s a big brand and the fans are mega-fans so if they put the wrong person in the hot-seat then there would be outrage. It was a long process. It started in January and I didn’t find out until October that I had the job so I had to be very patient. But I completely understand why – they had to pick the right person for the show. You don’t want to disappoint the fans do you? They certainly didn’t want to let them down. Metro.co.uk: Is there a lot of pressure on you to be a success in the role? Jenny: I feel under pressure for myself and on behalf of the fans of The Chase as I have always watched so I really appreciate how they feel. The production team and the other Chasers couldn’t have been more supportive. They aren’t putting any pressure on me to win every single game or be anything I’m not. They want me to settle into my little groove.

They’re trying to ease me in as much as they can but at the same time throwing me in at the deep end which is the best way. (Picture: ITV) Metro.co.uk: What was that first match like? Jenny: Even though it was over a year from my audition, it felt like it had crept up when I was putting my costume on and getting my make up done. I think I was quite lucky as I’ve been on quite a few game shows in the past and know that no matter how nervous you’re feeling before-hand, once you’re out there it’s a different world and you can just switch off. A ‘zone’ is what performers would call it. You tune out the cameras and people around you and put everything into the quiz. So the first time, even though it was stressful, I came off and said “I actually enjoyed it!” I enjoyed the Final Chase more than anything as that’s the crux of the show and it’s quizzing in its purest form. I came off and wanted to do it again! What will The Vixen be like? Jenny revealed: ‘I’m going to be the opposite of Anne.

Obviously she’s frosty and I’m more fiery – so basically don’t cross me. I would say it’s difficult to go out with a fully formed personality. You’ve seen it with the other Chasers over the years – they have not come out with their fully developed characters straight away. Except for Anne. Anne is just Anne – she is the Governess and it happens as soon as she puts on that suit! ‘They just want me to be me. That’s really what Paul is and Mark is –they are themselves. They want me to be a bit cheeky and a bit sarky. I don’t like to target the contestants as I’ve been there before. I’m in the Paul camp where I give credit where credit’s due as people stand up and put their reputation on the line and it’s difficult. I do it every day but I’m a professional. ‘My persona is still in development but it’ll give you an idea what’ll happen if they get on the wrong side of me! ‘The name (The Vixen) was picked with a couple of things in mind.

Firstly, because I have long red hair which is put into a ponytail so it’s like a fox’s brush and secondly because I’ve always had a love of animals too and this one gives me free reign to be a bit predatory and a bit flirty so it allows me to be a bit wild if I need to be.’ (Picture: ITV) Metro.co.uk: Have you had to deal with any cheeky contestants yet? Jenny: I’ve had a couple of cheeky contestants, yes! You know, sometimes you can tell from what they’re wearing and how they compose themselves what kind of contestant they are going to be. Sometimes you get them where they have a bit of a personality and think they can become bigger than the show – but nobody is bigger than the show so they need to be taken down a peg or two especially when they step up and get very few questions right! MORE: Hilarious videos alert: 20 times The Chase was the funniest show on television Metro.co.uk: Who would your ideal opponents be in a celebrity special?

Jenny: My dream lineup would be Richard Osman as it would be good to beat our rival, Tom Hardy, because Tom Hardy and the real competition would be Sue Perkins and Leon out of Gogglebox! Metro.co.uk: Will you be watching your first episode and looking at the reaction on social media? Jenny: I’ve not decided whether to watch – I’m sure my mum will insist on watching it with me and we’ll have to watch it six times afterwards. I’m going to get other people to monitor my social media for a couple of weeks because one thing that has been tempering my excitement has been the reaction due to trolls – are people going to judge me before they get to know me? That’s one thing that’s taken the edge off of my excitement and positivity. My other half and a couple of friends will monitor my Twitter for horrid things. So far, overwhelmingly people are very promising and I’ve had lots of lovely messages from excited people looking forward to seeing what I’ve got to offer the show. When it happens to Anne, it’s like water off a duck’s back. With her personality, it wouldn’t really affect her as much. But I’m really not looking forward to it.

I’m young and I’m female so some people might not like it and I might get personal abuse. That’s not something I’m looking forward to so I’m protecting myself from it. The positive stuff will keep me going. (Picture: ITV) Metro.co.uk: What do you do in your spare time when you aren’t in quizzing mode? Jenny: I play computer games and I’m always on the internet browsing and on social media. That’s how I work and learn as well as I’m always researching and reading new information. That’s how I keep my pop culture fresh. Also, I play ukulele in a band and sing. We rehearse a couple of times a week and have gigs coming up. We do covers of pop and rock songs and some new age and punk stuff and its really good fun. It’s a good outlet! Jenny makes her debut on The Chase on Wednesday 2nd September at 5pm on ITV. The Chase returns weeknights at 5pm from Monday 31st August.

Question: On the UK television game show ‘The Chase’ which chaser is known as ‘The Governess’?
Answer: Anne Hegerty