Anne Hegerty chats to Yours
Currently presenting her own game show, The Chase’s Anne Hegerty chats about finding her feet later in life, enjoying solitude and learning from Bradley Walsh
Fame came late to TV star Anne Hegerty but the taste of success is all the sweeter to her because of it.
Viewers really began to fall in love with Anne, (62), after seeing her take part in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2018 when her fellow campmates took her under their wing as she struggled with life in the jungle. Since then, she has become a near national treasure with her dry sense of humour and her encyclopaedic brain.
Anne, aka The Governess on The Chase, says: “I never expected it at my age and I love it. Just that feeling that there is something I can do well, that people actually seem to like. I feel like I’m living the dream,” she said. Anne is currently on TV presenting the second series of Britain’s Brightest Celebrity Family, in which eight celebrity families battle it out in a series of knockout tournaments, all to win £25,000 for their chosen charity – and the ultimate title. Anne admits she enjoys presenting the show partly because she loves meeting the celebrity guests.
She says: “I’m still sort of awestruck by the celebrities and we always get some really good ones on the show.”
But Anne is always amazed when she is recognised herself. She was stunned when she read in an interview that US musician Chaka Khan spoke about watching her on The Chase and was a fan,
‘I love it, just that feeling there is something I can do well, that people seem to like’
“I thought, Chaka Khan can pick me out of a line up, she knows who I am! And Brenda Blethyn who said to me, ‘Oh, you’re The Governess’ and I said, ‘Oh my goodness, you’re Brenda Blethyn’”! Anne believes that observing The Chase host Bradley Walsh has helped her in her big role on Britain’s Brightest Family. She says: “It’s brilliant being a solo presenter. I’ve been watching Brad for so long; I don’t think I’m all that good, but I’m better than I would be if I didn’t have him to watch and learn from.” Her success is even more impressive as she has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, which was not diagnosed until 2003, when she was 45, after recognising her symptoms on a TV programme.
Her condition gives her a keen and intense interest in subjects – perfect for being a quizzer – and she wows audiences of The Chase with her general knowledge.
Her brilliant memory stems from her schooldays when she used to memorise paragraphs of Shakespearean texts which helped her in the long-term in view of her quizzing career.
She says: “My thought processes are slower than most people’s. My hobby is sort of staring into space and thinking; I really must re-pot that plant because it appears to be dying. And then failing to do it. I’m really just good at sitting around, giving people the impression I’m not doing anything but I’m actually sort of very slowly going through things in my mind and getting ready to do stuff. I take a long time to do tasks.”
Despite her natural introversion, the quizzer says she is happy to pose for selfies when she is approached by fans.
“As long as I don’t then have to look at the picture afterwards and go, ‘Oh no!’” she laughs.
Recently Anne has been Down Under filming The Chase Australia. She was planning on using the two-week quarantine period to perfect her sewing skills. She reveals: “I’ve also got various clothes that need altering, because I’m fussy about exactly how things fit. I’m a funny shape. My waist is small and if I get a pair of trousers, I need to put tucks in the waistband. I’m not very good at sewing. It’s sort of something I feel I should do,” she laughs.
When Anne returns from Australia she will film new episodes of The Chase and then another series of The Celebrity Chase.
Single Anne says she gets a lot of male attention.
“It’s really nice, but
I am not interested in relationships. I know I can’t really sustain them. I can’t bear that level of emotional intimacy for a sustained period. I remember a charity that was aiming to tackle loneliness, contacting me through my agent saying, ‘Anne has spoken so movingly of her struggles with loneliness’. And I thought, ‘No, I haven’t, I have spoken about how I love being alone’.
“I enjoy solitude. A lot of people just misunderstand it. They think, you know, I’m on my own, and therefore I have to be lonely. I think I’ve said things like when I was a child, I didn’t know how to make friends. And that’s true. But what I should have added is, I also didn’t quite understand why I was expected to need friends.”
Anne has said that she was burnt out at the start of last year from working too hard and taking on too many commitments. “Lockdown has been good for me. I’ve loved having tons of unfilled, free time where I can actually do my own thing. Like many, I started sleeping much longer hours in lockdown. And I think that did me good. For some reason, one day recently, I just needed 14 hours sleep, I can’t think why, I haven’t been obviously doing anything much! My fellow Chaser, Mark Labbett loves to have a nap in his dressing room, but not me.
“While I’m hoping that things get reasonably back to normal, I’m also conflicted because, of course, in many
‘I’m good at giving people the impression I’m not doing anything. But I’m actually going through things in my mind. Tasks take a long time’
ways for me, lockdown has been really good. It’s been lovely being able to do quizzes on video call and not having to go out for ages.”
Has the pandemic made her determined to take life easier and scale down work commitments? She muses.
“I just find it difficult to say no to things – I still don’t know if I’ve learned how to say no in the last year. It’s just that I’ve learned that it’s so much better if people aren’t even asking me!”
■ Britain’s Brightest Celebrity Family airs on Thursdays at 8.30pm on ITV