The Chase star Jenny Ryan hits out at Joey Essex after Celebrity Masterchef clash

The Chase star Jenny Ryan has branded Joey Essex “lazy” and “not a very nice person” after the pair both appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.

Ryan, best known for the ITV quiz show, made the comments while appearing on Dan the Man's Desert Island D**** podcast, which sees guests revealing who they’d least like to be stranded on a desert island with.

The 38-year-old, who goes by the nickname The Vixen on The Chase, told how she was unimpressed with the former TOWIE star when they both appeared on the BBC cooking contest.

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Talking on the podcast Ryan said: “I thought, I'll take people as I find them and I want to give him a chance.

"The fact that he put this additional workload onto everybody else showed that he just doesn't seem to be a very nice person.

"I assumed it was a bit of a persona and when you get into that situation the nice, co-operative side of you tends to come out."

Discussing a challenge which saw contestants cooking a meal for 60 diners, she added: "I spent much of the time allocated to us to cook the 60 portions cajoling, bossing Joey about, trying to find things for him to do, then trying to explain to him how to do them, then watching him make a halfhearted attempt to do them before making an excuse as to why he couldn't do that task - and then having to find another task…"

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“He took up half of my time. It was so exasperating, it was excuse after excuse after excuse. I just thought, 'It's not a put-on, this - he's just lazy'.”

The series was eventually won by athlete Greg Rutherford who beat Vicky Pattison and Neil Ruddock in the final.

Dan the Man's Desert Island D**** podcast is available online now.