Jenny Ryan The Chase: Getting to Know the Quizzing Vixen
(Image/ Source: entertainmentdaily.co.uk)
Most of us will recognise Jenny Ryan as one of the fearsome chasers from the ITV quiz show The Chase, but outside the TV studio, she’s actually far less intimidating.
Also known as “The Vixen”, the quizzing star can be seen quaffing champagne and hanging out with her cats- and she’s just unveiled an amazing new look!
So what do we know about The Chaser?
Let’s find out…
Jenny Ryan The Chase
The redhead from Bolton has made quite an impression in quizzing circles over the years. She made her very first quiz show appearance on University Challenge, helping Leeds reach the semi-finals in 2003.
Jenny also went on to appear on BBC’s Mastermind in 2006, choosing Buffy the Vampire Slayer as her specialist subject. Go Jenny!
As if that wasn’t enough, the star also featured in the TV shows Only Connect, Fifteen to One and Weakest Link.
The quizzing favourite finally made her big break in 2019, when she was approached to write and prepare questions for the pilot episode of The Chase.
(Image/ Source: digitalspy.com)
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Jenny Ryan didn’t actually join The Chase until 2015, when she made her debut appearance on September 2nd. And rumour has it that this was all thanks to fellow chaser Anne Hegerty, who recommended producers to hire her to join the hit ITV quiz show after the stars competed in the same quiz team.
While TV fans will often refer to Jenny as “The Vixen” for being “notoriously clever and cunning”, the star revealed that she had first hated the name when it was initially tested out.
Chatting to ITV’s Lorraine Kelly, Jenny laughed:
“The producers had been trying to work out what my nickname should be, and they wanted something animal-y because I like a lot of animal print.
And they suggested ‘The Cougar’, and I said, ‘no, because I’m too young to be a cougar!’.”
But the star has been less revealing about whether she’s in a relationship, and has kept her love life private.
Jenny once hinted at a potential romance on her Twitter page, but she hasn’t said anything since.
New Look
While she’s normally looking much more intimidating on The Chase, the star recently unveiled a fab new off-duty look on social media, shocking and delighting fans.
(Image/ Source: Jenny Ryan’s Instagram, jenny_from_the_quiz)
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Posting on Instagram last month, the master quizzer and former The X Factor: Celebrity contestant had ditched her trademark cherry red hair for a new lighter hair colour, captioning the photo “Summer = better natural selfie lighting.”
Jenny’s fresh new look went down a storm with her 52,000 followers, with one fan gushing “Jenny you are so stunning inside and out.”
(Image/ Source: express.co.uk)
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This came shortly after the quizzing star was branded as a “condescending cow” by online trolls.
Jenny Ryan was quick to hit back on Twitter, writing:
“Always good to have a heads-up when someone’s asking the company I work for to fire me. If you think I’m condescending on the show, then you don’t know the half of it.”
“I’m mostly put out by the claim that NONE of the other Chasers are ever a bit snarky to the contestants. I think my colleagues would be offended, too.
She added:
I’m literally doing my job, in exactly the same way as my Chaser colleagues do and always have done.
This seems to be a perception issue, a separate issue with me. By all means give examples of me ‘belittling people with knowledge’, and how they are different to my colleagues!”.
Outside of The Chase
Despite the trolls, it looks like quiz champion Jenny Ryan is rising above.
She and her fellow chasers have been able to show a relaxed side after appearing in Let’s Sing and Dance for Comic Relief in 2017. The stars went on to win the competition- performing a Wizard of Oz medley of course!
And in 2019, Jenny decided to compete in Celebrity MasterChef, as well as X Factor: Celebrity.
While the star was eliminated before the live shows, outrage from viewers led to her being asked back to join the live shows. Jenny then went on to reach the final and finished in third place.
So it seems that outside of The Chase, the quizzing star is much more laid back in real life!
