Anne Hegerty reveals why ITV's The Chase has been put on hold

ITV finished recording series 19 of The Chase in April before confirming it would not be recording any new episodes until 2027.

A spokesperson for ITV, via The Sun, said: "The Chase has just finished recording series 19, which completes its recording schedule for this year.

"ITV will continue to air The Chase as usual, with a combination of new and repeat episodes across the year.

"With more than 2.5million viewers per show, The Chase remains one of the nation’s most loved quiz shows.

"There is also new Beat the Chasers for 2026 and a brand new spin off series, The Chase Around the World, coming soon."

Anne Hegerty reveals why The Chase has been put on hold

Anne Hegerty, also known as "The Governess", is one of the chasers on the ITV quiz show, along with:

• Mark Labbett ("The Beast")
• Shaun Wallace ("The Dark Destroyer")
• Paul Sinha ("The Sinnerman")
• Jenny Ryan ("The Vixen")
• Darragh Ennis ("The Menace")

Hegerty has now revealed why filming of The Chase has been put on hold for the rest of 2026.

Speaking to The Sun, she said: "We are taking a little bit of a filming break because we’ve got so many shows in the can, we’ve got hundreds of shows in the can.

"Last year we did two series of Beat the Chasers, which we were only supppsed to do one.

"And it gives everyone time to do things. Bradley has things he wants to do, Jenny has her singing.

"I am interested in doing some acting, there is a film director interested in me."

Anne "The Governess" Hegerty has revealed why The Chase has been put on hold until next year. (Image: ITV)

Commenting on speculation, the break in filming was also due to budget cuts at ITV, Hegerty continued: "Everyone is cutting because the streaming services are carrying acts.

"Everyone is trying to save money, so I wouldn’t say that wasn’t part of it.

"But it’s also because we have so many shows in the can, we don’t need to show repeats.

"We are still massively doing the ratings. We outrate everything."

Anne Hegerty to star in new spin-off series

Hegerty is also set to star in a new spin-off series called The Chase Around The World, which is set for release "around the World Cup" (June 11 to July 19).

She explained: "The idea is you have couples takes to various places and I have to do various tasks and we kind of pop up in a various places, so it should be good fun.

"We’ve now got three of the six shows in the can.

"We go to places in Europe, it it goes well then we will go further afield."

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