Jenny Alexis Ryan (born 2 April 1982) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

quizzer, singer and television personality, best known as one of the six chasers on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

game show '' The Chase'', where she is nicknamed as "The Vixen".

Career

Ryan's first quiz show appearance was on ''

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

'', helping the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

to reach the semi-finals in 2003. She also appeared on ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...

'' in 2006, choosing the American television series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'' as her specialist subject, and featured in both series of ''

Are You an Egghead? ''Are You an Egghead?'' is a BBC quiz show that was presented by Dermot Murnaghan. It is a spin-off from the quiz show '' Eggheads'', with its goal to find a further Egghead to complement the existing team. The first series was aired weekdays f ...

'' in 2008 and 2009. She found success on ''

Only Connect ''Only Connect'' is a British television quiz show presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell. In the series, teams compete in a tournament of finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues. The title is taken from a passage in E. M. Fo ...

'' as a member of the team The Gamblers, who won the third series of the show in 2010. Additionally, she has made appearances on ''

Fifteen to One ''Fifteen to One'' is a British general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4. It originally ran from 11 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's original run ...

'' and ''

Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

'', and worked as a QI Elf. Ryan wrote questions for game shows. She joined ''The Chase'' as a chaser in 2015, making her debut appearance on 2 September. She was recommended for ''The Chase'' by

Anne Hegerty Anne Solway Hegerty (born 14 July 1958) is an English quizzer and television personality. Since 2010, she has been a "chaser" on the ITV game show '' The Chase'' as "The Governess", and was a contestant on the 2018 series of the ITV reality sho ...

, as they had both competed together on the same quiz team, where Ryan was the captain of the team. Her nickname on the show is "The Vixen", in reference to her red hair, freckles and ponytail; Bradley Walsh came up with the name and the producers liked it since "vixens are notoriously clever and cunning". She is also referred to as "The

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Brainiac". In 2017, Ryan appeared alongside fellow chasers

Shaun Wallace Shaun Anthony Linford Wallace (born 2 June 1960) is an English barrister, lecturer and television personality. He is one of the six "chasers" on the ITV quiz show '' The Chase''. Wallace is a part-time lecturer and visits schools, colleges and ...

and

Mark Labbett Mark Andrew Labbett (born 15 August 1965), also known by his professional nickname The Beast, is an English quizzer and television personality. Since 2009 he has been one of the "chasers" on the ITV game show '' The Chase'' as "The Beast" and f ...

on ''

Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The programme ...

''. They won the competition, performing a '' Wizard of Oz'' medley. In 2018 Ryan, along with comedian

Lucy Porter Lucy Donna Porter (born 27 January 1973) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Brighton Festival and many clubs around Britain. She is also a regular voice on BBC Radio 4 in various panel sh ...

, launched in 2018 Fingers On Buzzers, a podcast about quiz and game shows. The duo appeared on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in early 2019, where they discussed Fingers On Buzzers and other topics. In July 2019, Ryan appeared on the 14th series of ''

Celebrity MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 20 ...

''. In October 2019, she began competing in '' The X Factor: Celebrity''. She was initially eliminated before the live shows, with heavy criticism of this decision from viewers leading to her being asked back to join the live shows. She went on to reach the final and finished in third place. Ryan also plays the aukulele.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Jenny 1982 births 21st-century English singers 21st-century English women singers Contestants on British game shows Contestants on University Challenge English television personalities Living people Participants in British reality television series People from Bolton Quiz championship players Women television personalities