The Chase recruits former contestant Darragh Ennis as first new Chaser in five years

16 April 2020, 10:57 | Updated: 2 December 2020, 09:05

The Chase has hired a new Chaser. Picture: ITV

Who is the new Chaser on The Chase? Find out everything about Darragh Ennis...

The Chase have reportedly hired a brand new quizzer to join Bradley Walsh’s team of brainboxes.

According to the Mirror, former contestant Darragh Ennis is set to be announced as the sixth Chaser alongside Anne Hegarty, Paul Sinha, Mark Labbett, Jenny Ryan and Shaun Wallace.

Darragh - who is a post-doctoral researcher at Oxford University - will be the first new chaser to join the lineup since The Vixen, Jenny Ryan started in 2015.

Darragh Ennis appeared on The Chase is March 2017. Picture: ITV

A show source told the Mirror: “Darragh has got what it takes to be a Chaser, he has been put to the test and passed with flying colours.

“They don't bring in new members on The Chase regularly so this is a big deal for the show and Darragh.”

They added: “Viewers will be very interested to see how he gets on.

“The show is so popular with spin off shows now as well so there is a need to increase the team.

"No one is leaving, Darragh is very much an addition to the team.”

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During his time as a contestant back in March 2017, Darragh bagged his team £9000 in the cash builder round, while his teammates decided to take minus offers and decreased the jackpot by £2700.

He then became a viral sensation when the hashtag #Justicefordarragh started trending on Twitter and fans of the show even created a Gofundme page to raise him the money.

This comes after host of The Chase Bradley Walsh hinted we could be seeing a new Chaser this year.

Speaking to the Radio Times last November, he said: “We’re making more and more shows all the time, so we need to recruit more people all the time.

“So consequently, we have put our feelers out to find other people that will be suitable, and all will be revealed next year.”

When asked asked if more than one new Chaser would be joining, the 59-year-old added: “It could be more than one, who knows. But it’s a proper shake-up.”

There are currently five Chasers on the show. Picture: ITV

Who are The Chasers?

The Chase team is currently made up of five brainboxes.

These are Anne Hegarty (The Governess), Paul Sinha (The Sinnerman), Mark Labbett (The Beast), Jenny Ryan (The Vixen) and Shaun Wallace (The Dark Destroyer).

Mark and Shaun have both been chasers since series 1, while Anne joined in series 2, Paul in series 4 and Jenny in series 9.

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