Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis' recent debut on the hit quiz show The Chase was a great success.
We caught up with the man himself, Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis, to see how he’s settling in...
“They didn’t tell me about the name until I walked on set! It’s purely because it rhymed,” he laughs.
A scientist and former contestant, Irishman Darragh (47) has joined the Bradley Walsh-fronted ITV show alongside the famous five who have their own funny nicknames: Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett, Anne ‘The Governess’ Hegerty, [Jenny ‘The Vixen’](http://Jenny Ryan:) Ryan, Shaun ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Wallace and Paul ‘The Sinnerman’ Sinha.
But he first appeared on the hit show as a contestant in 2017, taking on Paul, who said he was ‘the best player’ he’s ever faced on the show.
“Afterwards I got a call to come in and audition,” says Darragh.
”I thought it might have been my friends playing a joke, but once I established it wasn’t, I jumped at the chance.”
He found the first episode exciting rather than nerve-wracking.
“I do a lot of quizzes and I don’t get shaken up if I get a question wrong. I just keep going. That’s a big advantage.”
The Chaser family has welcomed him with open arms. “They give me lots of tips. If someone has a bad day and they lose a show, we are very sympathetic. But we are also very competitive too!” he laughs.
“Anne is like my English Mammy, she’s a lovely woman. Paul is so funny and sharp – no wonder he is a comedian! We’re great friends. The same with Sean. The Dark Destroyer thing isn’t real. The first time I met him, when we were allowed to, he gave me a big bear hug to welcome me.”
He adds that Jenny helped him cope with social media. “She was very good with me, especially with social media at the start so I didn’t get swamped.”
His relationship with Bradley Walsh is equally good: “You can’t understand how funny that man is in real life. It’s ‘Brad’, never ‘Bradley’ or ‘Mr Walsh’, or any of that kind of stuff. He’s very friendly to everybody. We have banter throughout the whole recording of the show.”
Married to fellow scientist Joan and with a young family, Darragh is a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, studying the brains of insects. He says: “You start off on a reasonably modest income so the extra money from The Chase comes in handy for some of our house renovations. But that’s not my main motivation!
“I’m doing the show because I genuinely love the job. It’s amazing and such good fun. My New Year’s resolution is to try to win as many shows as possible.”
The Chase is on ITV on weekday nights at 5pm
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