ITV’s The Chase is one of the UK’s biggest quiz shows. And what helps to make it so successful are The Chasers – the quizzing personalities that go head-to-head with contestants.

They include Shaun Wallace, Darragh Ennis, Mark Labbett, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha and Jenny Ryan. On screen, they all take on alter egos and play up to their personas, but many fans and viewers may often wonder what they are like in real life.

Unfortunately, for most, the only way to find out is to end up on the game show and go against them in a battle of wits. For me, however, it has been a part of my job to speak to some of them. Here is my own take on what the Chasers are really like.

Darragh Ennis

What you see is what you get with Darragh. He is an absolute delight.

I had the joy of meeting him backstage when I went to his quiz show night in Southport’s Atkinson theatre – and it was no surprise that the venue was sold out.

He made more than enough time to chat with me before the show, after I liaised with his PR. And although it was meant to be an interview, we laughed and talked for around an hour.

Darragh is super down-to-earth, very friendly, and has such a contagious laugh. I would love to interview him again at some point in the future.

(Image: ITV)

Anne Hegerty

Anne, who is also known as her alter-ego ‘The Governess’, is one of the Chasers who I always thought might be more like her quizzing character – but that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

I met her at the National Diversity Awards on the red carpet earlier this year, and instead of being stony-faced, like her on-screen persona, Anne greeted me with a very warm smile.

Despite it being a very busy event, she still allowed me plenty of time to chat with her. She was kind and warm – absolute worlds apart from what I expected.

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised. Hopefully, we cross paths again in the future.

Shaun Wallace

One person that I didn’t ever expect to be massively disappointed by was Shaun Wallace.

I met ‘The Dark Destroyer’ earlier in the year at one of his quiz nights in Liverpool’s Bierkeller – and he really did destroy any positivity I had for him.

On screen, he appears playful and full of jokes. He writes poems for the contestants and seems to love bringing a smile to people’s faces.

My experience of him couldn’t be any further from that. He left me feeling deflated, and I actually ended the chat sooner than I should have.

I prepared everything in advance with his team, from the questions I was going to ask to the timing of the evening. But when I got there, none of it went to plan.

I arrived early to speak to him and was told he hadn’t turned up yet, and to try again in the interval. So I did and was told he didn’t have time to speak to me, try again at the end. So once again, I did as I told, but then he just simply could not be bothered with me.

He huffed and puffed about being tired, with his face looking thunderous. Eventually, he let me ask a few questions after telling me he didn’t have time to look at the ones I’d sent to his team.

But as I was talking, he continued to sigh heavily and scroll through his phone. Eventually, having enough of the sheer rudeness, I thanked him for his (minimal) time and left.

He is one Chaser I would never like to cross paths with ever again – unless I somehow was managing to wipe the floor with him on the ITV show.

(Image: ITV)

Mark Labbett

So Mark is an unusual one. I haven’t actually ever met him in person. I haven’t actually interacted with him at all, as far as I can remember.

But I have indeed made it to his block list on social media.

When I go on his Twitter page, I am greeted by a big bold message which reads: “MarkLabbett has blocked you.

“You can view public posts from @MarkLabbett, but you are blocked from engaging with them. You also cannot follow or message @MarkLabbett.”

I guess I’ll never really find out why!

(Image: ITV)

Paul Sinha and Jenny Ryan

Paul is another Chaser that I haven’t actually met in person, but have had dealings with virtually.

Part of my job is to watch The Chase and write about it. Apparently, sometimes Paul’s team don’t always agree with these articles and I have been contacted by them in the past.

However, I remain hopeful that if I ever meet him in person he will be the funny guy that we see on TV.

As for Jenny, I have high hopes for her meeting my expectations if I ever chat to her in the future.

(Image: ITV)