The Chase genius Darragh Ennis' unusual job working with insects before fame

Darragh 'The Menace' Ennis is the newest Chaser on the block after taking his place in the role at the end of last year, joining fellow Chasers Mark Labbett, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan and Shaun Wallace.

But before he landed a role on the ITV quiz show, he had a very unusual job.

He is a neuroscientist who has worked at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth in the country of his birth and at Concordia University in Montreal.

Alongside his duties on The Chase, Darragh is currently studying the brains of insects as a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University.

His Twitter bio says "I do science and occasionally quizzes. Chaser on ITVs The Chase. Send me terrible jokes."

Darragh recently opened up about the tough recruitment process, which saw him interviewed and quizzed for four years before being given the role of Chaser.

Darragh first appeared on The Chase as a contestant, but now he faces off with players as a fearsome Chaser (ITV)

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He appeared as a contestant on the show in 2017 and was soon contacted by producers inviting him to come and audition.

But it certainly wasn't a simple process and involved a number of rounds over the years.

He also revealed that he rejected an initial name he was given, leading him to only find out his 'Menace' pseudonym when he was on air.

Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning, Darragh said: "A couple of days after recording I got a phone call from one of the producers - which I originally thought was a joke, and then it turned out it was real - and they were asking me to come in for auditions so I just went in.

"I spent a very long time - that was four years ago. So I spent a very long time doing auditions and trials and training before they trusted me on the show."

Darragh Ennis is a neuroscientist and studies the brains of insects (ITV)

A stunned Phil asked: "What kind of trials and training are you doing for four years to get the Chasers job?!"

"It takes a long time but the first time it was only ever once every few months," Darragh explained.

"They'd call me and do camera tests and ask me loads of questions and lots of things. I'm sure there were more people than me that were being considered.

"Once they decided I would go in regularly for training where they would ask me loads of questions and when I got them wrong, we'd talk through the answers."

Darragh also revealed that producers initially wanted him to be called The Professor, but he rejected the name.

"I work in the university here in Oxford and that's a title [professor] that you really have to earn and I think people would be very annoyed if I started calling myself the Professor.

Darragh said he finds the lusty attention from fans hilarious (ITV)

"So I said I didn't want that but they didn't tell me what my name would be until I was on set. I was on stage, waiting to go on, when I first heard!"

Now he's a show favourite, Darragh has been getting a lot of attention and been inundated with people offering their hands in marriage.

"Since I started on The Chase I've had many marriage proposals," he told The Daily Star, "I must have had about 40 people asking if I'm married or would I marry them and would I meet up with them."

Unfortunately for his many admirers, Darragh is happily married and has had to turn down all those attempting to win his heart.

"I find it funny rather than flattering," he laughed.

Presenter Bradley Walsh has already branded him "Mr Smooth" and "Mr Suave" but Darragh isn't confident he will be in the running for the next James Bond.

Admitting he "would be terrible at it", Darragh joked that he would "jump" at the chance to play the secret agent once Daniel Craig hangs up his gun.