The Chase star Anne Hegerty has revealed in a raw interview that she struggled to get by before appearing on the ITV quiz show.
Anne confessed to getting behind on the rent, admitting that her finances were in a dreadful state before she found help.
The 62-year-old, who is better known as The Governess on the quiz show, recalled living in a housing association flat in Manchester and finding herself in arrears.
Speaking to former X factor host Kate Thornton on the White Wine Question Time podcast, alongside her co-star The Dark Destroyer Shaun Wallace, she poured her heart out.
Anne opens up about being skint and struggling to pay the rent prior to The Chase (Image: ITV)
Anne, who often bamboozles contestants with her vast array of general knowledge, reflected on trying to make ends meet prior to landing a job on the show.
She said: “What happened was that my flat in Manchester is a housing association flat – I own half of it and rent the other half – and I hadn’t been keeping up with my rent.
“The woman in charge of making sure people do that, knocked on the door, and she sort of just basically walked in and closed the door behind me and said ‘Right, we are going to get this sorted out’.”
Anne is beloved by ITV viewers (Image: ITV)
Anne, who was diagnosed with autism in her forties, praised social worker Jeff McKenzie for turning her life around.
“He saved my life and he was far more competent and efficient than I was,” she said.
“He knew all the ways to get the water board to lay off me and to get banks to lay off me and to kind of get my finances back on track. He was brilliant.”
It wasn’t until 2010, when luck came knocking on Anne’s door and she finally got the breakthrough she’d always hoped for on The Chase, that she became financially secure.
Co-star Shaun Wallace chimed in for Anne, commending her for her tremendous efforts in coming out on the other side of a tough time.
Anne is one of the main Chasers
He said: “I think hardship and adversity have been the making of us and everybody.
“I don’t care who you are – everybody needs that luck to actually show their talent for what it’s truly worth. I had that when I started doing quizzing and I won Mastermind. I never thought in a million years that’s something I could do.”
Agreeing with Shaun, Anne added: “I mean, this really is the thing that has changed my life.
“I’d had to go through four separate auditions and was kind of on tenterhooks about it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that has made so much of a difference in my life as actually getting the job on The Chase, frankly.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
