He had to take time off following his death

The Chase star Darragh Ennis previously opened up about his father’s death and admitted he was “broken inside” after he passed away.

The quizzer shot to fame when he joined the beloved show in 2020 as The Menace. However, in July 2024, Darragh – who is on Beat The Chasers today (September 28) – faced heartbreak when his father died from dementia.

Darragh’s father’s death hit him hard. So much so, that he had to take some time off from the ITV programme and was offered counselling.

He appeared on Loose Women this year and revealed why he took a break from work (Credit: ITV)

The Chase star Darragh Ennis’ heartbreak after dad’s death

In January 2025, Darragh appeared on Loose Women, where he opened up about his dad’s death.

“I was broken inside and I didn’t realise,” he told panellists Ruth Langsford, Judi Love, Sally Dynevor and Kelle Bryan.

Darragh was then asked if he returned to work straight away. He explained: “Not for a little while afterwards. We had a natural break in filming. But when I did go back to work, I was put in those stressful situations.

“On The Chase, there is a two-minute gap right at the end – the last thing we do is really, really high pressure, just by nature.

“Normally when I start making mistakes, naturally I’d be able to handle it. I’d just plant my feet in my head psychologically and go: ‘I made a mistake’ and keep going.”

His father sadly died last year (Credit: ITV)

Darragh Ennis struggled on The Chase

Darragh continued: “This time when I went to put my feet down, there was nothing underneath them. I just fell away. I weirdly got stressed and camera shy, which I never do. The pressure overwhelmed me completely.

“I had a couple of episodes like that, where every time I tried to reach for that part of myself that is calm under pressure, it wasn’t there anymore.”

Darragh went on to share that The Chase producers arranged counselling for him and also offered him some time off.

Darragh Ennis ‘couldn’t shrug it off’

He said: “At that point, the producers talked to me and said: ‘Would you like to take a break?’ We still had a couple of episodes to film. They offered rather than told.

“So the first time it happened, I tried to see if I could shrug it off but I couldn’t. So they arranged for counselling, with a sports psychologist, which might sound strange to some people, it’s a high-pressure situation where a lot of people are watching, and these are really helpful.”