Mark Labbett hits out at fans as he defends The Chase co-star Anne Hegerty after 'insults'

express.co.uk:

The Chase star Mark Labbett has taken to Twitter to defend his friend and co-star Anne Hegerty after she was on the receiving end of "insults" on the micro-blogging platform.

Mark made the remarks after Anne weighed in on comments made about New Zealand's "Zero Covid" strategy, which saw the Chasers being tagged by social media users following the popularity of the quiz show in the country.Yesterday evening, Mark 'The Beast' Labbett told his 150,000 followers that he wouldn't tolerate "insults" made against his friend and colleague.He wrote: "Dear Kiwis, I love you all and believe that your country’s future Covid strategy is a matter for you to decide."However anybody who insults my friend @anne_hegerty gets blocked instantly."Good evening :)," he ended his post.The star was responding to Dan Wootton's article in which he claimed that Jacinda Ardernn's "crazy Zero Covid policy" was '"doomed to fail".After he shared the piece, The Chase stars were quickly tagged by Twitter users.Anne responded, commenting: "The Chasers are very proud of being so popular in New Zealand ..."And these new rules mean we'll probably never be able to go back there again without having to quarantine for several years," she joked.However, many angry social media users quickly took issue with her comment.@rrtooster wrote: "I’m guessing you mean nz will have quarantine into the future not that quarantines duration will be several years."Even so much as we love you chasers having you here during a pandemic isn’t high priority sorry," she told The Governess.Clarifying her comments, Anne was quick to hit back: "Yeah, I was joking about having to quarantine for years."@GeoffShearer1 also weighed in, writing: "Completely untrue Anne."The borders will.