A contestant on The Chase was forced to eat his own words after an embarrassing encounter with Anne Hegerty.
And he was soon put in his place by the fearsome chaser, more commonly known as The Governess on the show.
Read more: The Chase’s Anne Hegerty reveals secret career as children’s author
On Thursday (June 13), things went wrong almost immediately for John when he appeared on the show alongside fellow hopefuls Ann, Kelly and Phil.
While none of them were in for an easy ride with the former I’m A Celebrity star, it was retired financial adviser John who narrowly missed annihilation from Anne when he made a dig about the brainiac – before realising he was about to face her.
Fifty-eight-year-old John flew through the cashbuilder round, getting an impressive nine questions right and winning £9,000.
Read more: The Chase’s Anne Hegerty says ‘sex is better in my head’
Asked who he would rather take on, he replied: “It’s more who I don’t want to take on.”
When host Bradley Walsh asked: “Oh really, who don’t you want to play?”
“I don’t want to play Anne,” John admitted. “I find her a bit intimidating! I think she might just psyche me out.”
Oh John, haven’t you watched the show before?
To his surprise, Bradders then introduced the chaser John would be up against – Anne, of course!
Poor John could only look down in mock horror, while a bemused Anne strolled out with a smirk on her face.
Clearly revelling in the awkwardness, Bradley laughed: “It’s the legendary Governess – it’s Tugboat Annie!”
Cool as a cucumber as always, Anne simply rolled her eyes before saying: “Oh hello John. I’m not going to psyche you out.”
Despite John’s embarrassment, he made it to the final chase with fellow player Phil, who said he was “born ready”.
The pair scored 19 steps, but were eventually beaten by Anne with four seconds to spare.
Anne was on form during the show, putting salesman Phil, 31, in his place when he made the fatal mistake of greeting her with a “hi, gorgeous”.
Ignoring him, Anne said: “You sell advertising space?
“I would like some adverts for a better standard of contestants so that I can make a game of it.”
Ann was also sent packing by the chaser when she made too many errors, most notably perhaps a failure to recall one of George Orwell’s most famous novels.
Meanwhile, on Thursday’s edition of the game show, viewers branded contestant Deanne “disgraceful” and “shameless” when she opted to take the low offer.
After her fellow contestants Janice and Adam banked £10,000, Deanne took minus £1,000 which left the team with £9,000 between them, instead of £13,000 or more.
She told Bradley: “I really didn’t want to do this. I’ve said all the time I didn’t want to do this. But I’m here for the day and I want to join those two at the end. So, I’m going to take the minus £1,000.”
One viewer wrote on Twitter: “Deanne didn’t deserve a penny. Nothing annoys me more than people who go low.”
Another said: “Yeah, enjoy your teammates cash, won’t you Deanne?” while a third added: “She takes money away from the pot and now wants to take her share? Disgusting and disgraceful. Has she no shame or any shred of decency?”
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