Eyewear stylist Zoe goes against look-a-like Jenny on The Chase and is praised for bold style
An eyewear stylist from Telford competed against The Chase's Jenny Ryan - who said looking at contestant Zoe was like looking in the mirror.
Dispensing optician and eyewear stylist Zoe Witham is a fan of bold and colourful glasses, similar to Chaser Jenny, who said: "It's absolutely marvellous to come face to face with my own look-a-like!"
Zoe, 30, works at Style Optique in Market Drayton and said she has long admired Jenny's style and that when she applied for the show, she was hoping to go against The Vixen.
Zoe appeared on the popular ITV quiz show on Thursday evening, but unfortunately went out in the head-to-head round, after earning £6,000 in the cash builder.
However, she said she had received so many positive messages about her style, with some calling her an inspiration.
"It was a great experience," she said. "I applied for it a while back in 2018, so it is a very long process.
"I finally had an audition in 2019, and they said it might be you never get called to go on, or it could be in four weeks or 18 months."
Zoe finally got the call in December 2020 and said filming was an "absolute ball", but she had to keep the outcome a secret for five months.
"It was great to meet Jenny and just be there and have that sort of banter," she said. "I have said from day one I wanted to go against Jenny because we have fairly similar styles and I have admired her for her glasses.
Empower
"Working with Style Optique, I trained early on as a stylist and it meant I learnt about my own style – this really boosted my confidence to no end and I can now empower other women to do the same. I have had messages from people saying I was an inspiration for wearing these glasses and showing my own style.
"I didn't expect to get this response about my style it has been incredible. Being a glasses wearer for many years, when I was growing up you can get picked on and for a while I wore contact lenses because of it. Working where I do, I learnt myself that glasses can be part of who you are. It's about being who you are and making a fashion statement.
"I've had confidence issues in terms of glasses but also being plus size but I've learnt to be who I am and not hide – and what better way to not hide than go on national television."
Zoe's family are regular quizzers in Telford, including her dad who passed away in 2002, and Zoe said she went on the show in his honour.
She added: "In the 90s my dad got on the show Fifteen to One and was out in the first round. So for a while I've wanted to go on a quiz show and get to the end, however looks like I followed directly in my dad's footsteps as I went out on the first round as well."
