ITV The Chase's Anne Hegerty's 'worry' as she shares insight into love life

Edinburgh Live

01-05-2025

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The Chase's Anne Hegerty has candidly discussed her bustling social life and the "worry" it brings.
Anne, 66, rose to fame as The Governess on the hit ITV show. She has publicly spoken out about her autism diagnosis.
Anne discovered she had the condition when she was 45. She noticed traits she recognised in herself when watching a TV show about autistic children.
Autism can affect a person's social interaction, communication, interests and behaviour. Anne discussed her diagnosis when she appeared on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
She admitted she struggled understanding social cues. It comes after Anne once said there were "no downsides" of fame, reports the Liverpool Echo.
(Image: ITV)
In an interview with Best magazine, Anne expressed her mixed feelings about her active social life: "There are times when I would like to have a less social life than I do. The thing is, I could say 'No' more, so really, that's on me. I'd quite like it if things were not so busy, but then if they weren't so busy, I'd worry."
Anne has also been open about how her autism affects her romantic relationships, revealing her discomfort with personal space invasion and recalling a time she turned off her phone to avoid a boyfriend's calls.
She further elaborated on her need for solitude in a recent interview, saying: "I really struggle with closeness and having anyone else in the house. I think an awful lot of autistic people don't get married or settle down. I don't even have pets for that reason and my capacity for living with other people is just diminishing. I need a huge amount of alone time."
Anne has openly confessed to The Mirror that she's quite content with her single status, as she feels she needs more personal space than anyone could "possibly give me".
She revealed that her most recent relationship lasted a mere four months and was manageable only because it was long-distance. Now residing in Manchester, away from her London roots, Anne once harboured dreams of motherhood but now believes she "wouldn't have been able to tolerate it a lot."
(Image: Dave)
She recalls the times she would sit anxiously by her phone, dreading calls from her partner. To confront this fear, she would often make the first call, only to find her then-boyfriend assumed she "wanted to talk" when in reality, she just "wanted to get it over with".
Post-breakup, Anne initially shed tears of relief, which later turned into tears of guilt.
Her interactions with children haven't been much easier. She recounted to the Daily Mail how she had to limit the time spent with two neighbouring kids to one hour daily, despite their wishes to stay longer.
Anne said: "We managed to restrict it to just one hour a day and they always wanted to stay longer. They were absolutely smashing kids and we're now friends on Facebook but I couldn't even handle that for more than an hour."
In a chat with Best, Anne expressed her satisfaction with having numerous male friends and her preference for solitude. Regarding dating, she stated: "I'm not really interested in that sort of thing.
"I like my own company and like to be left alone. Men make such good friends. I have so many male friends, it's great."