Anne Hegerty shares surprising move away from The Chase and 'exorcism' outside of show

The Chase star Anne Hegerty spoke live from the red carpet at last night's gala for 2:22 A Ghost Story - but it turns out the show's lead actress Stacey Dooley isn't the only one having haunting encounters. In fact, Anne will be featured in an upcoming film, Exorcising Barry, in just a couple of months - and it involves demonic possession, exorcism and fake vomit.

The short movie, produced with a pal and due to hit the film festival circuit in a couple of months, will be a million miles away from her day job on quiz show The Chase - but she's looking forward to diversifying. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk. she said: "We don't meet the lead character, Barry, but his wife says he is possessed by a demon, so she consults a friend, who gets another friend of his to pretend to be a priest and do the exorcism."

Allaying any fears that it could be terrifyingly gory, she revealed: "There's fake vomit [but] it's very fake, don't worry - and honestly, it's only about 10 minutes, so we should be fine!" Referring to the character she plays, Anne continued: "I'm the neighbour, looking over the fence, wondering what on earth is going on."

The Chaser otherwise known as The Governess continued: "We don't actually meet Barry. It's just more silly than anything - and it's this guy pretending to be a priest [for the exorcism] and not having the faintest idea of what he's doing! It all takes place in the front garden." Filming for the next series of The Chase isn't due to start again until September, which will give Anne an opportunity to "make the rounds at the film festivals".

She added that she'd love to continue her foray into acting, and wouldn't turn down the chance to play the lead character in a play like 2:22 A Ghost Story, which had its celebrity gala night yesterday. She jokingly quipped: "I'd be an incredibly solid ghost. I know I'm not very convincing because the floorboards are creaking, but trust me, I'm a ghost!"

She explained that the only thing stopping her from branching out into theatrical roles is the scheduling clashes it could cause with The Chase.

"I really would be interested in doing more acting, but theatre is a problem because theatre dates get figured out a year in advance and it quite often doesn't work for TV dates," she agonised.

That said, she's been able to slot in pantomime shows in Scarborough and Warrington, which she'll perform this Christmas.

Meanwhile, on the subject of hauntings, which celebrity figure, dead or alive, would Anne most like to be haunted by herself?

Without hesitation, she name-checked Lorenz Hart, an American songwriter who died way back in 1943.

She also chose 18th century playwright Dr. Samuel Johnson, chuckling: "If he was a ghost, you wouldn't be able to tell that he didn't change his underwear much!"

"There's just so many dead people I would love to meet," she mused, although in her mind, it's not a realistic possibility, as she doesn't believe in ghosts.

"I think they're explainable by natural phenomena," she declared, "but one likes a good ghost story if it's done well, of course!"