Hi, I'm Jenny 'The Vixen' Ryan from The Chase. Ask Me Anything!

Hi Jenny! Love the show.

I'm one of the moderators for the Reddit community for The Chase at /r/TheChase. It has been going for about a year and is relatively small but we'd love it to become a great community for fans of The Chase.

It'd also be great if you could join us on there from time to time! My questions:

1. Of all the Final Chases you've done, which one stands out for you?

2. What makes a great quizzer?

Hi Hassaan!

1. The first time I played for £100,000 was a huge milestone - it was against a solo player and it wasn't a huge target but it was quite intimidating!
2. Quizzers are people who have a natural curiosity about the world, and are always seeking more information about everything. We're like overgrown toddlers who are always asking 'Why? Where? When?'

How do you keep up to date on your quiz knowledge? The amount of 'stuff' you need to know is staggering - do you have to train constantly to keep up to date on things?

Every day is a school day, and information comes in from everywhere. Even a trip on the tube or bus is educational, as there are all those posters for the latest films, albums, TV shows, theatre productions... Personally, I follow lots of news and entertainment accounts on Twitter, and and try to read as many articles as I can. Wikipedia is always open in another tab to keep reading around the subject at hand. Sometimes the key is to know what to learn (predicting questions!) and what *not* to learn - I mean, I'm likely to be asked about characters in Corrie but not so likely to be asked about Lithuanian politics...

Hi Jenny, love the show! 2 questions -

1) What's your favourite quiz show of all time?

2) If you were a contestant on The Chase, which fellow Chaser would you least like to face in the final chase?

1. The Chase, obviousl.... right, they aren't looking, so I'm gonna say Going For Gold.

2. I think Paul would give me the most trouble, although I think I would punish any of them on the pushbacks on soaps, TV, film etc.

Fellow Leeds Uni graduate here. Besides appearing on University Challenge, what are your best memories of Leeds (quizzing or otherwise)? FAB Cafe Quiz on Sundays was my favourite one to do

Hi Tom!
Probably the most vivid memories of most Leeds students (or lack of memories!) are of attempting the Otley Run, especially in fancy dress! If you can believe it I once had short dark hair so I went as Harry Potter :) I have family in Headingley too so I like to visit often, great city!

Hey Jenny!

Love the Chase. How competitive is it between the chasers? Do you keep tabs on who has won and lost the most games?

We are competitive insomuch as we want our collective record to be great... Mark is our stats man and he keeps a huge spreadsheet with all our facts and figures on, so we can see who has the best win rate, the fastest, the highest targets etc. We play as a team and we try to support each other as best we can.

has bradley ever corpsed so badly that its been cut? also how much fun is it to try and make him laugh?

All the time :) That's why our recordings sometimes overrun! You can often tell when a question comes up that it's going to make him laugh - I try to avoid eye contact or I'll go too!

Hello Jenny!

When you started to pick up a passion in quizzing, were there certain things you learned before others?

For example, monarchs always seem to come up in game show questions, similar to the scoring of Scrabble letters. Did you just know these things naturally or did you sit down one day and tell yourself "right, today I'm going to learn X and tomorrow Y"?

Keep doing Bolton proud, we love watching your episodes!

There are some things which just stick in your mind - things you are passionate about, for instance - but others do need to be worked at. Monarchs is a good example - I made myself a timeline and posted them around my living room, so I know that the Plantagenets are by the door and the Tudors become the Stuarts in the corner by the wireless router! The kind of thing you have to do if you want to quiz seriously.

Hi Jenny, love the chase!

How did you get the nickname, 'The Vixen'? Was it your choice or assigned to you by the show?

As a matter of fact, it was Bradley Walsh! It came to him in a flash of inspiration when he saw my ponytail for the first time! The producers loved it as vixens are notoriously clever and cunning.

Hi Jenny, favourite chaser of course being a gamer as well!

1) Any idea when the new episodes of Family Chase will be aired?

2) Have you ever played Minecraft?

3) Do you have a Nintendo Switch?

Gaming themed questions, sorry :P Thanks!

1. Afraid that information isn't shared with me!
2. I'd love to but I know it would be a time sink! I have watched plenty of Minecraft videos though - love the Yogscast Minecraft series!
3. Not yet...

Hi Jenny! Do you have any advice for someone who wants to get into quizzing? I feel like my Asperger's could put me at an advantage.

Also, why is The Chase like ten times better than Tipping Point?

Be interested in and curious about everything! Think about the kind of quizzing you want to get into - maybe get a few past papers from Quizzing Grands Prix, World and European Championships, Hot 100, see how you would fare. Work out where your weak areas are and work at them in whatever way your brain best takes in information. For instance my memory is more multi-sensory/situational, whilst others can learn from reading lists. Keep watching all the quizzes you can, and get down to the pub quiz or local quiz league.

Hi Jenny! I’m a big fan of the Chase. 2 questions; How many episodes do you normally film in a day? Are all of the Chasers in the studio together?

We record 3 episodes a day, with a different Chaser for each, so we'll often have three Chasers in the canteen for lunch! We're actually quite rarely all together, though we have our own Facebook Messenger group and chat all the time.

Hi Jenny, when you first started on the show, your win rate was the weakest of the chasers. Now it's the strongest. What has caused that massive improvement? Just getting more comfortable with the nature of the job, or did you work extra hard to improve your quizzing after your first series?

You've nailed it I think. Partly it was getting relaxed into the role, and part of it was having the time and focus to work hard on my weaker areas. I'm very focused on my Chase quizzing skills, which is a slightly different skillbase to other types of quizzing.

Do you ever feel bad for taking the contestants' money? Also, what's your favourite quiz show other than The Chase?

I'm not taking anyone's money! I'm protecting the show's money... and that's all hypothetical anyway until the team manage to beat me. I rarely feel bad as I am doing my job, that's what I was hired for :)

Hi Jenny! I've always wondered, what's behind the other side of the head-to-head board they we can't see? Is that where they keep Bradley in between takes?

Yes, that's Bradley's den! He has a little seat and table there, to stash his water, coffee and a book in case we have a technical delay.

How much longer does it take to film an episode of The Chase end to end than the 45 minutes of it we see on the telly?

It will usually take about 2 hours top to bottom to tape an episode.

Hi Jenny, have you ever been part of a final chase that was so close they had to stop and check whether you'd got your final answer in in time?

Yes, there are a few very close ones! Thankfully we have the independent adjudicator in studio to make the ultimate call - it's a horrible feeling to be sitting there waiting for the decision, though :(

What’s your favourite pub in Bolton?

Ye Olde Man and Scythe - one of the oldest pubs in the country, so it's like a history lesson going in there!

Hi Jen

Red or brown sauce?

Usually red. Depends on the item being sauced. Sausage butty = red. Bacon butty = depends on mood.

Hi Jenny!

If you went on WWTBAM or Pointless Celebrities, which Chaser would you like to accompany you?

Good question! I'd have Anne as my Phone a Friend on WWTBAM, and Paul as my Pointless friend.

Hi Jenny, do you have a most memorable final chase? Maybe catching 24 while defending £100,000? Or are the ones where it goes to the final few seconds more likely to stick?

That's probably my top Final Chase! The team set an amazing 24, especially the young quizzer Charlie (former University Challenge contestant) and I managed to catch them with 14 seconds remaining. Even I was shocked! 24 is usually more than enough but unluckily for the team I went on to a higher plane of speed quizzing...

Hey Jenny. Massive fan of the Chase and everything. My question is, as you're the latest chaser on the show, would you consider going on other quiz shows to build up your game show history like as Shaun has been on Weakest Link before and Mark on Millionaire? Thanks Xander

I've actually been on more quiz shows than either of those guys!

Hi Jenny! Thanks for doing this.

Where do the Chasers wait while the contestants do their bits? Is it just the other side of the bridge, down some stairs, or is it another dimension entirely? I ask this because even though I've been on the show myself, I'm still none the wiser! Thanks.

Yep, at the bottom of the steps up to the bridge is 'Chaser Corner' where we sit ready to pounce :)

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Do you ever fancy doing anything like I'm a Celeb or going on 8/10 Cats?

What's your favourite book?

Good Omens is probably my favourite book of all time - I re-read it at least once a year.

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I'm a bit too afraid of snakes and spiders for the Jungle! But Cats does Countdown would be fun - I'd have to keep up with those quick-witted comedians, though.

Have you ever seen any contestants fight/argue?

This happens in the Family shows quite a bit - they all know each other so well it turns to bickering, but all in good spirits.

Are you going to stream more Lego games on Twitch soon? 😝

I hope to! I've been super busy for the last few months with The Chase then panto, but aiming to get back into it in the next month.

Who chose the name Vixen for you?

Hi! Thank you for your question. This was answered elsewhere on the thread :)

Hi Jenny. Brilliant to see you doing well. Are you going to follow Shaun in writing a book?

I'd love to get a book out there one day. Probably not an autobiography like Shaun though - my life has been too boring I'm afraid!

Hello Jenny! I am an absolute fan of The Chase.

What are some of the best moments in your quizzing career? Also, what other quiz shows would you consider participating in when you have the time?

I loved my quiz show debut on University Challenge, and my career highlight pre-Chase was probably winning series 3 of Only Connect with the Gamblers.

I'd still like to do Pointless...

Have any of the other chasers experienced a pasty barm? And did they go brown or red?

Despite being from Bolton I've never eaten a pasty barm! Carb overload! Though I'd go red if I did.

Do you think a localized version of Jeopardy! would work on UK television today? Why or why not?

I'd love it if they tried it over here again, as I think it's such a fun and classy format. I think it is due another attempt, if one of the networks would take a chance (I'd be happy to host!)

Hi Jenny,

What did you do for New Years? I think I saw you were in Panto this year?

I was in panto in Rochdale but we had our last show on New Year's Eve, so I spent it at a house party with a Fairy, a Dame and a Prince!

Evening Jen! Just a couple of quick ones - Who's your favourite Wanderers player, and who do you wish you could have seen live?

All the best for the future! Ricky❤️

I loved the glory days of Super John McGinlay, Andy Walker, David Lee... wish I could have seen Nat Lofthouse in his pomp, though.

Do you ever watch foreign versions of the show and if you do, how do you feel about those?

Also, how do you feel about the World Quizzing championship, and do you think it's too focused on British culture? Winners are almost always English, I want to participate for the first time this year but that is kind of discouraging, I'm obviously not looking to win haha , I'm pretty new to the quizzing world and while I have won on the Serbian version of "The Chase" with a pretty good result I am ways of from the best in the country, and only our top quizzer reached the World top 100 last year.

I have watched international versions on YouTube, I love that the format has spread worldwide!

Have a look at past papers for the Worlds and European Quizzing Championships - I think you will be surprised by how international the questions are.