The Chase star Anne Hegerty leapt to the defence of one of her co-stars on Twitter earlier today (Wednesday, January 19).
The 63-year-old star of The Chase hit back at a troll who appeared to fat-shame Mark Labbett aka The Beast this morning.
Anne Hegerty defends her Chase co-star The Beast
Mark was cruelly trolled on Twitter this morning after jokingly putting himself forward to star in a new quiz show.
Mark was replying to a call-out looking for contestants for a new globe-trotting quiz show. The call-out stated that a “degree of physical fitness will be required”.
The Beast replied to the tweet, writing: “I feel that a pair of @anne_hegerty and myself could make the ultimate Hare and Tortoise contest. We just plod along remorselessly getting everything right.”
Read more: The Chase viewers fume over contestants ‘ridiculous’ questions
A cruel troll took the opportunity then to take a swipe at Mark by appearing to fat-shame him.
“I admire your ego but concerned about the degree of physical fitness,” they wrote.
Anne instantly jumped to her co-star’s defence by replying to the troll’s tweet.
“Mark has lost a ton of weight and hits the gym,” she fired back.
How did Anne Hegerty’s fans respond?
It wasn’t just Anne who defended The Beast from the troll. Some of her 159.7k followers showed their support for Mark too.
“It really shows too,” one supportive fan tweeted.
“And he looks fab for it!” another said.
“Anne you look amazing, Mark looks great, what’s the problem? What’s it got to do with others,” another wrote.
“Don’t disrespect The Beast,” another fan berated the troll.
“I’d never disrespect him, he’s my favourite Chaser. He said himself they would plod along!” the troll replied eventually.
The Chasers attacked by trolls
It hasn’t been the first time in the last week or so where The Chasers have been attacked by trolls.
Jenny Ryan, aka The Vixen, was targeted last week. A troll told the 39-year-old quizzer that she was their least favourite Chaser because she comes across as a “complete smart-[bleep]”.
However, rather than be upset by the troll’s words, Jenny instantly hit back with a witty reply.
Read more: Beat the Chasers: Jenny Ryan defended by co-stars after troll attacks her
“Literally my job, babe,” she tweeted.
Other Chasers jumped to Jenny’s defence too. Paul Sinha, aka The Sinnerman, slammed the troll, writing: “Imagine being you. Imagine thinking this is a way to conduct yourself.”
Anne got in on the act too, tweeting: “Slightly affronted that you think I’m NOT a complete smart[bleep]”.
The Chase airs weeknights at 5pm on ITV and ITV Hub
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