ITV’s The Chase has seen thousands of attendees walk through their doors over the years and face powerful chasers, but most would agree that Anne Hegerty is the toughest of the group.
Anne, or ‘The Governess’ as she is known, has the most wins among the top five hunters and rarely crumbles under the pressure.
That was until she hit her match in the form of her celebrity crush.
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Boxer David Haye came head-to-toe with Anne on the Celebrity Edition of the ITV game show and she couldn’t have been more excited. It should come as no surprise that Anne’s celebrity crush is boxers because of her natural competitive instinct.
The episode aired on October 4, 2014 and David Haye appeared on a team that featured Radio 2 host Ken Bruce, former English midfielder Paul Ince and EastEnders actress Laila Morse (Mo Harris) for a cash prize for their respective Charities struggled.
It was the first time the onlookers saw the hunter let go of their guard and they didn’t hold back!
Despite the episode aired three years earlier, Anne’s memory of the day appears to have remained untouched by time, and she mentioned the encounter in a recent tweet.
It read: “Given the UK and US sexual pest panic, I am incredibly lucky that I have NOT licked David Haye everywhere.”
The reference to the licking was a call back to Anne’s extraordinary chat-up lines on the episode, in which host Bradley Walsh, attendees, and the live studio audience wept tears of laughter.
“As everyone could see, I was delighted to play David Haye, although I’m not sure he felt the same way!” She said.
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Anne appeared off camera at the famous chase seat to greet the boxer.
In a gentle tone she said, “Hello David” and he replied by asking how she was doing. At this point Anne could no longer suppress her excitement and replied, “Oh, I just want to lick you.”
David was happy to play ball and jokingly told her that if she asked some of the questions wrong, he could allow her to do so.
Unfortunately for David, it wasn’t that the boxer and his only teammate Laila Morse lost in that final chase after asking seven correctly answered questions.
David Haye is a former cruiserweight champion and WBA heavyweight champion.
(Image: Dave Thompson / PA Wire.)
Fortunately for David, it appears that his performance in the final chase did nothing to stop Anne’s feelings for him. In interviews since they met, when Anne was asked who her dream star should play against, she has said, “It was David Haye – oh my god, he smokes!”
The chase airs every weekday at 5 p.m. on ITV.