Yahoo Finance 'The Chase' quizzer Anne Hegerty says autism gets in the way of her finding love
The Chase star Anne Hegerty has revealed that being autistic has had a negative impact on her love life.
The game show quizzer, 62 – who was diagnosed with autism in her mid-40s – said being on the spectrum has made it hard for her to “hold down relationships”.
The Daily Mail reported that Hegerty opens up in a teaser clip from spin-off show The Chasers Road Trip, which sees Hegerty and fellow Chasers Mark Labbett and Shaun Wallace travelling around the world.
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She says: “One of the things that goes along with autism is that I really can't hold down relationships. I've tried.”
Hegerty shares that her longest relationship was just four months and that the romance only lasted that long because the man lived in Brighton, while she was in Manchester.
“He was a lovely bloke but I am just not good with the sort of amount of attention that people need,” she added.
Listen to Anne Hegerty talking on White Wine Question Time
The clip also sees the trio taking a test to determine their emotional intelligence level – with Hegerty joking that she is “a cyborg” after scoring 1%.
A former journalist turned professional quizzer, Hegerty joined the ITV show in 2010 as Chaser The Governess.
She has opened up about her dating life before, revealing last year that although she does fall in love it “tends to not be with people I meet in real life”.
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“I fall in love with historical or fictional characters. People I can put a bit of distance between,” she told OK! magazine.
“I get overwhelmed in the presence of actual people and everything shuts down.
Get a sneak peek into how your Chasers like to relax in between outsmarting animals, kids and robots… 👀😂
The Chasers Road Trip: Planes, Brains & Automobiles, starts tonight at 9pm on @ITV & @ITVHub@MarkLabbett @anne_hegerty @TheShaunWallace @ITVChase #ChasersRoadTrip— ITV (@ITV) January 21, 2021
“I’ve found that with sex, too. It’s like I can’t be fully in it.
“That much intimacy, I almost zone out.”
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