It turns out the Vixen from The Chase studied at the University of Leeds

That’s right. You just might be sleeping in a room previously owned by TV royalty


Many notable people have walked through the halls of the University of Leeds.  Multiple Olympic champions, BBC news presenters, the one and only heartthrob, Chris Pine, and even the infamous serial killer Harold Shipman.

I have to give it to you Leeds Uni, you’ve got variety.

None are so great, in this writers humble opinion, as the amazing Jenny Ryan a.k.a the Vixen from ITV show The Chase.

You heard me right. The Bolton-bred brainiac was a student at the University of Leeds.

Jenny (left) with her uni mates

Ryan started her studies in 2000 with the hopes of becoming a barrister or going into politics. Luckily for the British public,  her calling to become a quiz master was too strong.

In 2002 Jenny Ryan made her first TV appearance representing the University of Leeds in the quiz show, University Challenge.

Steve Kidd, one of the other members, wrote an online blog about the experience:

“We were lucky enough (luck?) to have the best five scores in a one-off trial organised by the Students’ Union. Fortune further favoured us in that we seem to have the most peculiarly diverse, often idiosyncratic spheres of interest.”

Leeds were knocked out in the semi-finals 

Clearly Jenny started hitting the books after that defeat, as five years later she was approached by the producers of The Chase to write the questions for the pilot episode.

She said in an interview with Radio Times: “I actually worked on the pilot of The Chase and wrote the questions on it.”

Jenny is currently the youngest chaser and had to go through nine months of tests to get onto the show.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• ‘All hell broke loose’: Hundreds of Leeds students gather for snowball fight

• Cut the Rent Leeds ‘disappointed’ in university’s rent rebate

• Uni of Leeds extends late penalty waiver to include all coursework originally due in January