ITV The Chase's Darragh Ennis breaks silence on why he really quit day job

Before finding fame, Darragh Ennis shared that he could not even afford a new door for his house - which is why he appeared on ITV's The Chase in the first place. He continued his work as a scientist while being a notable figure on British TV, until his career made a change that caused him to quit his role off-screen.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk at one of his quiz nights, in Southport's Atkinson theatre, the Irishman told us: "I don’t do it anymore but I used to be a scientist, that was my real job when I had one out in the real world, instead of this pretend job. But I was working part time doing that and that’s kind of difficult. My lab moved from Oxford, where I lived, to Glasgow and I used that as a point where I stopped working.

"Scientists are people who are regularly badly paid. Incredibly badly paid. To get to the position I was in, when I was in Oxford, I had to do a four year degree, a four year PhD, one year of work experience and then a few years in the job itself to move up the pay scale. I was getting paid £44,000 and that was the maximum that any academic scientist could get paid in the UK. So after 20 years of training, that was it. That was as far as I could go."

He added: "I needed a door for my house. That’s why I got into quizzing. I bought my first house in Oxford and I swear you don’t want to know how much it costs to buy a house up in Oxford. The previous owners said that they would leave the fridge freezer behind, but they didn’t. I didn’t have enough money to buy a fridge freezer. My brother had to buy me one. We had maxed credit cards, everything. There was nothing left, no money.

"And the old owners had also taken the back door of the house and left us with a conservatory door that couldn’t be locked, so we couldn’t lock our house. I didn’t have enough money and I wasn’t going to make enough any time soon, with having to pay off credit cards, so I went on TV to win a door.

"That money [from the show] was spent before I even got home. I never took quizzing seriously before that. I was in a quiz league but it was an absolute laugh."

Speaking about taking on the role of Chaser, as opposed to appearing on the ITV show as a contestant, Darragh shared: "It’s great. I absolutely love the gig. It is a brilliant, brilliant job. I get to do stuff like this, I get to write books and go on travel shows, like go on holiday and get paid for it. It’s epic and I love it.

"I love going into work. Every time we are recording I bounce into the studio. It’s way better being a Chaser than being a contestant because you get paid either way and you get to come back the next day. It’s really good."

The quizzer recently invited live audiences across the nation to take part in his Ultimate Pub Quiz tour. He put on six shows, with visits to Barnard Castle, Sheffield, Bedford, Liverpool, Southport and Manchester, with tickets costing £20 which also included a meet and greet with the star himself.

The nights, which were full of banter, were led by Darragh who hosted multiple rounds of questions spanning general knowledge, pop culture, history, and more. Customers can sign up to the mailing list to hear about future pub quiz dates. An Ireland tour is to be announced in September, followed by an extended UK run in Spring 2026.