BRAINBOXES in Winsford were left starstruck after a quiz-world megastar dropped in to compère a charity battle of wits.
ITV’s The Chase star, Anne Hegarty, drew a crowd of 220 quizzers to Winsford Academy for an epic test of knowledge in aid of St Luke’s Hospice on Saturday, July 20.
The beloved former journalist and publisher began her meteoric rise to national treasure status after appearing in the first series of the hit TV gameshow hosted by Bradley Walsh in 2010.
In a departure from her usual role as a professional quizzer, the 66-year-old took on the mantle of question master, helping secure a whopping £3,800 boost for the cancer charity.
Anne is a close friend of long-standing St Luke’s supporters, John and Hilary Malam, and it was their persuasive gifts which convinced her to take part.
Anne said: “What a turnout! I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there were some really strong teams here tonight. You tend to get them turning out for something like this.
“The English have always had a tremendous quizzing culture, whether it be in pubs, or in quite serious quiz leagues. We’re all just nerds really.
“I don’t do this kind of thing very often. I just know John and Hilary have a long association with St Luke’s, so I was willing to lend a hand.
“I used to work in-house for John’s publisher, so got to know him and his wife Hilary very well. They’ve always been wonderful friends.
“They were very kind to me when I fell and broke my ankle in 1996, and was in hospital for a week after it was pinned. They kept bringing me sponge bags and basket of fruit and all that kind of thing.
“One day they brought their son Joseph in to see me. He couldn’t have been any more than two at the time, and he’d never seen anyone in a plaster cast before.
“He was enthralled he could see toes wiggling, but it wasn’t obvious who they were connected to.
“When they were about to leave, Joseph said goodbye to me and to my toes.
“All the nurses thought its immensely cute.”
John added: “And after that, Anne has always been known to us and to our children as ‘Anne With The Toes’, the affectionate name we still have for her.
"Needless to say, this went down really well with the quiz audience, who were delighted to hear Anne tell the story in public for the first time."
The result was a close-run thing which saw winners, Quizzy Mojo, answering a tie-break question with runners up, Charity Case.
A special bonus came in the form of a raffle prize which went to Louise Humphries, whose trip down Compass Mineral’s Winsford salt mine will fulfil an ambition she’s held as long as she can remember.
She said: "I was over the moon with my prize as the mines aren't generally open to the public, and I've always wanted to go down there since I was a little girl."
St Luke’s is funded by voluntary contributions, and has to raise £8,152 each day to enable it to provide free care and support to local people.
A spokesman the hospice said: “What an amazing evening for St Luke’s with such a fantastic amount raised for patient care.
“A special thank you to Hilary and John Malam, our local community and, of course, Anne Hegerty, for being such an epic quiz master.”
John said: "We're so grateful to Anne for offering her time for such an important local cause. It's had a truly massive impact, and we're delighted with the total we've raised.
"She even made time for a Q&A session with quizzers, which Hilary and I think was going above and beyond.
"We'd also like to thanks all the businesses who've donated some extraordinary prizes, as well as all the wonderful St Luke's volunteers who regularly give up so much of their time to help."
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