On Air Now
Heart's Club Classics with Toby Anstis 7pm - 11pm
5 April 2022, 16:36 | Updated: 6 April 2022, 15:25
The Chase's Anne Hegerty receives some very surprising news during tonight's episode of DNA Journey.
Anne Hegerty, 63, is related to the Royal Family with her 19th cousin being none other than the Queen herself.
This surprising discovery is made in tonight's episode of DNA Journey, where The Chase's Governess teams up with co-star Shaun Wallace to trace their family trees.
Anne, alongside The Dark Destroyer, find out during their journey that her 20-times great-grandfather was King Robert the Bruce, making the Queen her distant cousin.
During the episode, which airs tonight on ITV, Anne admits that this is not the first time she has heard that she is related to the royals.
When the quiz master discovers the truth, she says: “Wow, that is cool. But my grandmother was the most tremendous liar. My aunt said she was a romancer and she’d embroider life a bit, so I always felt that anything from my grandmother had to be taken with a pinch of salt.”
A brand new host of celebs are about to embark on an emotive DNA Journey!
— ITV (@ITV) April 5, 2022
Starts tonight at 9pm on ITV and ITV Hub. #DNAJourney @torvillanddean @TheShaunWallace @anne_hegerty @RealRula #MaureenLipman pic.twitter.com/BIGZKExIyH
She goes on: “My mother was always deeply disapproving of the idea of anyone knowing about their ancestors. She’d say, ‘it doesn’t prove a thing, dear’.
“As a child I was always curious about this stuff and my mother was always very repressive.
“I think it was because on my mother’s mother’s side there’s quite a bit of posh, and my mum thought I’d grow up to be a terrible snob.
“But I’ve already grown up to be a terrible snob, so really there’s nothing to hide.”
Whether this new discovery means Anne will be invited round to Buckingham Palace for tea we don't know, but it does now make sense why people call her the Queen of quizzing.