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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Kyle O'Sullivan

Best and worst Chasers exposed as 'The Menace' reshuffles the pack on The Chase

The Chasers are certainly some of the smartest quiz brains in the country.

Each weeknight, millions of us tune in to see whether a team of four contestants can bring home the cash then beat The Chaser in the daunting Final Chase.

While others just turn it on so they can watch Bradley Walsh take down the brain boxes with his hilarious one-liners and brutal nicknames, including 'Frosty Knickers' and 'Sarcasm in a Suit'.

However, there is one question that is never answered directly on the show - who is the best Chasers?

Data from series 1 to 12 has been collated by One Question Shootout to reveal a very tight race for first place - but a clear weak link in the pack.

And now with the introduction of a brand new Chaser, known as 'The Menace', there could be a reshuffling of the pack.

There are two clear front runners for the title of top Chaser - a king and a queen.

In over 350 episodes, Anne Heggerty has snuck into top spot with a very impressive 82.4% win percentage.

The former journalist, who also worked as a ghost writer, then moved into the world of TV quizzing, usually finishes the show with a smile on her face.

The Governess has had 100% accuracy in 23 shows and has the highest amount of clean sweeps (not getting a question wrong) in the Final Chase.

Anne usually has the last laugh (ITV)

Trailing agonisingly close behind in second place is The Sinnerman with another exceptional win percentage of 82.3% - just 0.1% off the leader.

Paul Sinha, who became a GP in 1995 and promotes himself as "the world's only gay Anglo-Bengali GP turned stand up comedian", was the first new Chaser to join the original line-up in 2011.

He has had a remarkable turnaround in recent years, climbing from the bottom to just below the top of the standings, and has a 100% record in 11 shows.

Mark, the much-loved Beast, sits in the middle of the leader board and is closely followed by newest Chaser Jenny, aka The Vixen.

Paul is the Sinnerman but he's in The Chase heaven (ITV)

While all five Chasers have close win ratios there has to be a loser - and sadly it's Shaun Wallace with an average of 75.1%.

The Dark Destroyer has an impressive 100% record in 12 shows, but once got more than half his questions wrong.

Amazingly, Shaun was also beaten by a team in series 6 who only achieved a score of 14 in the Final Chase.

It is worth pointing out that all the Chasers still have an exceptional record on the show, which has been running since 2009.

Shaun is bottom of the pile (ITV)

The picture could completely change once 'The Menace' has a few more games under his belt.

Real name Darragh Ennis, the neuroscientist first appeared on the show in 2017 where he played against The Sinnerman.

Darragh gave an incredible performance and won a whopping amount of money, so viewers were furious when other contestants dramatically decreased the amount in the pot.

The Menace, whose Chaser attire sees him sport a velvet paisley print jacket and bolo tie is delighted to have become the sixth Chaser.

"It's brilliant to be on such an amazing quiz team, and so much fun working with Bradley Walsh," said Darragh.

"It's such an exciting opportunity and I can't wait to take on more contestants!"

Darragh played his very first episode on Thursday (ITV)

Host Bradley Walsh joked: “Another Chaser? ANOTHER CHASER?

"That’s another person cleverer than me on The Chase.

"I must have words with the producers.

"But I can’t wait to educate Darragh on the important things in life; custard creams, cowboy films and real ale.”

*The Chase airs weeknights on ITV at 5pm

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