The Chase star Darragh Ennis, who is best known for his role as The Menace had originally been a contestant on the show back in 2016 before ITV producers invited him back to become a Chaser instead.
Despite being the newest member of Bradley Walsh’s Chaser army, Darragh is by no means a fresh face on the show, having made his formal debut back in 2020.
Since then, he’s made numerous appearances on the popular quiz programme and its spin-off show Beat The Chasers alongside co-stars Paul Sinha, Anne Hegerty, Mark Labbett, Jenny Ryan and Shaun Wallace, with very few proving to ever be triumphant against him.
While the Irishman tends to keep closed lid on private affairs away from the series, he has in the past let slip on the show about personal matters, including his past job, co-star connection and childhood sweetheart wife.
Darrah’s TV debut
Back in 2016, the Irish star appeared on the ITV programme as a player sporting long curly locks. He quickly impressed host Bradley Walsh and Chaser Paul Sinha, who hailed him as “very, very good” after he’d achieved £9,000 in the cash builder round.
His exceptional performance later saw him invited back for a screen test in which he bagged the role of the newest Chaser, The Menace.
In a past interview, he attributed his cool on-camera style for his success. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo previously, he reflected: “I did well on the quiz, but a lot of people do. I don’t get stage fright. I don’t get rattled by cameras or anything and a lot of people do. That can subtract a bit from how well their personality comes across.
“So, because I had that advantage, maybe they just saw something and thought ‘this fella is very relaxed on camera’, which is a big part of the job. It’s not just about knowing stuff. It’s about being calm enough in the moment to recall everything quickly so I think just a combination of those things.”
Family life
The TV star previously revealed that he studied at Maynooth University and that this is how he and his wife were first acquainted.
Giving a brief glimpse into how they met, he told RSVP Live: “We did our degrees and PhDs there [Maynooth University]. We were in labs down the hall from each other and she’s from Kildare.”
Darragh insists on keeping his private affairs out the spotlight, on the matter of privacy after being trolled online himself, the father-of-two told The Irish Mirror: “I have been keeping my family out of the limelight so my wife doesn’t get involved, she doesn’t want to.
“And my children, I don’t share photos of my children or anything like that. No one knows what my children look like or their names or anything like that.”
His Instagram profile instead is awash with pictures of bird feeders and the bee hives that are native to his Oxford home.
Second job
Darrah opted to maintain in his profession as a neuroscientist and entomologist alongside his commitments on The Chase.
Opening up on his career, during his TV debut as a contestant back in 2016, he told Bradley Walsh: “I work in brain development and how insect brains grow and develop.”
Stunned, Brad asked: “How insect brains grow and develop?” As Darragh quipped: “Well we can’t use people’s brains so…”
On a more recent episode, Darragh even revealed to the host that he would be “back in the lab on Monday,” confirming that he was still in the industry despite his fame.
Darragh’s link to Paul Sinha before TV fame
As a contestant on The Chase, Darragh also spilled that he and Paul Sinha shared a common connection before they were co-stars on the ITV show.
When asked by host Bradley who he’d like to come up against, the Irishman firmly stated: “I’d like to play Paul because apparently he used to play in the quiz league that I used to play in.”
“You play in a quiz league?” gasped Brad as Darragh confirmed: “Yes a pub quiz,” as Paul stepped out from behind the famous red doors to go head-to-head.
The Chase airs weekdays on ITV1 at 5pm.
