The Chase’s Anne Hegerty reveals the Chasers have a secret WhatsApp group

The Governess, The Dark Destroyer, Bradley Walsh, The Beast, The Sinnerman and The Vixen. Photo / ITV

The Chase star Anne Hegerty, also known as The Governess, has revealed she and her fellow Chasers have a secret WhatsApp group to vent about the show’s producers.

Hegerty, 65, told The Express that the group chat is a way for the Chasers - Hegerty, Mark Labbett, Jenny Ryan, Shaun Wallace, Paul Sinha, and Darragh Ennis - to support each other when times are tough or when they’re losing on the show.

The Chasers also like to congregate at a certain restaurant where “people don’t eavesdrop”, she added.

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“We have WhatsApp. We have one WhatsApp group that’s got the producers in and another one that hasn’t got the producers in so we can b**** about them,” she told the outlet candidly.

“If someone is having a bad time, if someone [a Chaser] was losing a lot, we’d kind of be very reassuring because it could be any of us.”

But the TV star, who’s famed for her stern attitude on camera, spoke fondly of the show’s host Bradley Walsh.

“[Bradley] is just this legendary presenter, and he is just such a nice guy, all the Chasers have such a nice rapport with him,” she gushed.

Anne Hegerty is Queen Elizabeth's 19th cousin. Photo / ITV

Hegerty is best known for her smarts on the show and has also appeared on UK reality show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

She’s spoken openly about her autism diagnosis in the past, last year revealing it’s had an impact on her romantic relationships.

The quiz expert revealed in spin-off show The Chasers Road Trip that she ended her longest relationship, which lasted just four months, because she “wasn’t good” at giving her partner enough attention.

Hegerty joked that she is “basically a cyborg”, having learned that she has a level of emotional intelligence at just 1 per cent.

Anne Hegerty, one of the chasers on The Chase UK quiz show. Photo / NZ Herald

“One of the things that really goes along with autism is that I really can’t hold down relationships. I’ve tried,” she shared.

“My longest relationship was four months and that only lasted that long because he lived in Brighton and I lived in Manchester.”

The confession came after she earlier revealed that despite being a TV star in the UK, she still lives in her Housing Association flat.

She told Kaye Adams and Karen MacKenzie on the How To Be 60 podcast, “I live in a Housing Association flat. I own half of it and rent the other half.”

In her professional life, Hegerty takes pride in being easy to work with, adding, “In my real life I do try to cultivate a reputation to be easy to work with. To not be a diva.

“If I’m going to be doing a panto and meeting the producers for the first time, I sometimes say to them, ‘Please be aware I’m not high maintenance’,” she continued.

“It’s amazing how far you can get with a little bit of talent and a reputation for being a good sport and I try to be a good sport and not be difficult.”