Jenny Ryan


Jenny Alexis Ryan is an English quizzer, singer and one of the chasers on the ITV game show The Chase. In 2019, she competed in the ITV competition series , in which she placed third.

Career

Ryan's first quiz show appearance was on University Challenge, helping the University of Leeds to reach the semi-finals in 2003. She also appeared on Mastermind in 2006, choosing the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer as her specialist subject, and featured in both series of the spin-off quiz show Are You an Egghead? in 2008 and 2009. She found success as a member of the team, The Gamblers, on Only Connect, who won the third series of the show in 2010. Additionally, Ryan has made appearances on Fifteen to One and The Weakest Link.
Ryan wrote questions for the pilot episode of The Chase in 2009. She joined the show in 2015, making her debut appearance on 2 September. She was recommended for The Chase by Anne Hegerty, 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 and ponytail; 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 Brainiac" for her place of birth.
In 2017, Ryan appeared alongside fellow chasers, Hegerty, Shaun Wallace, and Mark Labbett on Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief. They won the competition, performing a Wizard of Oz medley.
In July 2019, Ryan appeared on the 14th series of Celebrity MasterChef. In October 2019, she began competing in . While she was initially eliminated before the live shows, the heavy criticism from viewers led to her being asked back to join the live shows. Ryan went on to reach the final and finished in third place.