The Chase's Anne Hegerty reveals the interview that got her 'in so much trouble'

Anne Hegerty The Chase

Anne is best known as the Chase’s Governess

Anne Hegerty, who has featured as the governess on The Chase since 2010 has revealed that she got into a lot of "trouble" after after appearing on The Wright Stuff in March 2018.

The journalist got into trouble after going head to head with journalist Paris Lees, in a debate that centred around the gender pay gap. Anne started "lashing out", when she said to Paris: “Well, you used to be a boy, you’d know that."

According to reports from a fellow guest, the audience "fell silent" after the remark.

The presenter recently addressed the incident on twitter, replying to a debate about what pronouns should be used to describe those who identify as transgender.

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Anne graciously apologised for her remarks, writing: 'Shush, I got in so much trouble for that. It was only because I was short of sleep, overworked and sick of being contradicted.

'I thought Paris behaved with great dignity, actually, and didn't deserve me lashing out.'

At the time, Paris was "shocked" by the situation, telling The Sun: “The whole studio – the audience fell silent. I don’t think anyone knew what to say. You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.

“I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I love the show and Matthew [Wright], and I’m sure she didn’t mean to be malicious. I hope she didn’t mean it to come across the way it did.”

She added: “I didn’t say anything backstage, but everyone else came and checked I was OK. I’m not easily shaken, I’ve had worse in my time, but when you’re on TV, you don’t expect it.”

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Lauren is the former Deputy Digital Editor at woman&home and became a journalist mainly because she enjoys being nosy. With a background in features journalism, Lauren worked on the woman&home brand for four years before going freelance. Before woman&home Lauren worked across a variety of women's lifestyle titles, including GoodTo, Woman's Own, and Woman magazine. After starting out working for a local paper in Yorkshire, her journalism career took her to Bristol where she hunted out stories for national papers and magazines at Medavia news agency, before landing a job in London working as a lifestyle assistant.


A big fan of adventure, Lauren is also a keen travel writer and loves sharing tips on where to find the best places to eat, drink, and be merry off the beaten track. Lauren has written a series of travel guides for London hotels and loves sharing her insights into a destination's cultural and culinary offerings. If you need a recommendation on any UK destination, she's more than happy to help. At the weekend, you'll usually find her hanging out with her pet cat (or anyone else's pet she can get her hands on), escaping to the countryside, or devouring a good book.