Inside The Chasers’ love lives – from failed ‘open marriage’ to cousin to shock sex confession and ‘fake’ wife
THEY’RE among the brainiest people on TV and great at chasing quizzers, but how do The Chasers fare when it comes to chasing romance?
We exclusively revealed how Mark Labbett is dating stunning television presenter Hayley Palmer, who’s 16 years his junior, three years after ending his seven-year marriage to first wife, Katie.
And many of Mark’s co-stars on the ITV show have secret husbands and partners too.
We take a look inside the love lives of Mark, Anne Hegerty, Jenny Ryan, Paul Sinha, Shaun Wallace and Darragh Ennis.
Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett
Mark married his first wife, nurse Katie, in 2014 after meeting on Facebook.
But it was three years after their wedding day they realised they were also second cousins.
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The pair, who have a 27-year age gap, were married for seven years and are parents to five-year-old Lawrence, but announced their split in 2020.
The break-up was the result of Katie cheating on the star with engineer Scott Bate.
The pair did try to have an open relationship, but that failed to work.
Mark told The Sun at the time: "There was never any deceit on Katie’s part but it’s got to the point now where I realise it is better for us to go our separate ways and remain friendly.
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“All that matters is what’s best for our son.”
He later blamed the split on their 27-year age gap and said the lockdown had added to their marital woes.
Earlier this year, Mark, 57, revealed he was enjoying single life, but he’s now dating Hayley Palmer, 41.
They went public for the first time on Tuesday and were seen enjoying the sunshine on the beach in Southsea, Portsmouth.
A friend close to the new couple told The Sun: “It is very early days but Mark and Hayley are having a really good time together.
“They have been friends for some time and recently things developed into something more.”
Paul 'Sinnerman' Sinha
Paul is married to Oliver Levy, having tied the knot in December 2019 after proposing to his partner the January before.
He had previously said the pair were in an "open relationship", and went on to describe his wedding day as the “greatest of his life”.
Quizzer Paul came out as gay to his family when he was 35 and has been open about his sexuality since being in the public eye.
But he was forced to tell his dad about his relationship with Olly in a very awkward way.
Tweeting a picture of Olly at the till in Sainsbury's with Paul's dad queuing behind them, Paul wrote: "2016, two months into dating, we got to Sainsburys. Me 'be prepared, we might bump into my Dad and he doesn't know about you.' Then..."
Paul was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019 and has spoken about how Olly has been supporting him.
He explained: "When we got engaged I don't think he knew how traumatic the year was going to be.
“But we coped, and it's better being married. There is a more solid bond, and we have needed it, because of what's happened."
Anne 'The Governess' Hegerty
Anne is currently single, but she’s more than okay with that.
"It's brilliant. I really don't feel I'm missing out on relationships. I'm doing fine," she said on Loose Women. "I still get attracted to people, but there's no point in pursuing it."
Anne previously ruled out settling down because she has Asperger’s syndrome and feels it’s “unfair” on partners.
She told The Sun: "It took years of psychotherapy before I even considered dating.
“I lost weight, replaced my glasses with contact lenses and felt a lot more confident. But I find it really hard to hold down a relationship."
Anne also insisted she is straight, saying: "Most of my fans are older women and I think some of them are hoping that I'm a lesbian. I have to sort of let them down gently."
The Governess, who also revealed she "used to have a Californian boyfriend", previously told The Sun her longest relationship to date was four months, but she felt “suffocated”.
She said: "Even though he lived in Brighton I still felt suffocated in Manchester. And sex was always better in my head, I felt like I was somewhere else while it was happening.
“It made me realise I needed space both mentally and physically in life, and I can’t make it work."
Anne did reveal the traits of her perfect man on Loose Women.
"It would have to be someone who was intelligent with facts and reading books," she said. "It might not be a problem if he wasn't necessarily into quizzing as long as he understood I was into quizzing."
Shaun 'The Destroyer' Wallace
Shaun is very secretive about his love life, although he revealed he’d never been married last year.
Speaking on Loose Women, he confessed: “I mean I’ve never been married.
“Although, according to Wikipedia I was married to a woman called Martha for about 30 years!”
The Destroyer continued: “Marriage is not for everybody but I think as far as marriage is concerned, it’s a wonderful institution that still should be part of our everyday society.
“But, you don’t have to get married in order to be in a loving, committed and honest relationship.”
In 2020 he also reportedly said he was single while promoting his autobiography Chasing The Dream.
Darragh 'The Menace' Ennis
After his first appearance as a Chaser in December 2020, fans were left swooning over "dreamboat" Darragh Ennis, describing him as the show's new "eye candy".
He’s also revealed he’s had lots of marriage proposals since joining The Chase.
Speaking to the , he said: "I must have had about 40 people asking if I'm married or would I marry them and would I meet up with them."
Unfortunately for fans, Darragh is a taken man and previously .
The 48-year-old said: "We’re both Irish. We met in Maynooth University, we did our degrees and PhDs there.
“We were in labs down the hall from each other and she’s from Kildare."
The couple now live in Oxford with their two children.
He works as a lab manager and research technician alongside his TV career, spending his time researching the brains of insects, and his wife also loves quizzing.
However, when asked if she could feature on The Chase one day, Darragh told : “No, she’s not allowed unfortunately.
“Anyone related to or who knows a Chaser isn’t allowed to apply.”
Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan
Jenny hasn't given much away about her relationship status over the years, apart from one tweet in 2016, revealing she had a boyfriend.
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Uploading a picture of a dog wearing a shark costume she said: "My boyfriend is shark phobic but dog-obsessed so I am showing him all #BarkWeek pics to help him get over his fear. Cheers x."
It’s unknown whether she’s still with her mystery man, or even if he’s now been promoted to husband.