A STUDENT has hit back after being branded the worst quiz show contestant ever.

Hannah Mastrangelo was labelled a dumb university student by viewers of ITV's The Chase after an episode aired on Wednesday.

She was critiscised by fans of the show when she was allowed to walk away with a third of the winnings after she lost money from the team's overall pot.

Even Anthony McPartlin, one half of TV presenting duo Ant and Dec, took to social media to describe her as "awful" and the worst contestant he had ever seen.

But the 20-year-old, who lives near Shoreham, hit back at her critics.

When introduced as a University of Bath modern languages student reading French and beginners’ Italian, host Bradley Walsh asked her to say: "Hello Brad, it's a pleasure being on The Chase" in both languages.

She was berated for only saying hello - Bonjour and Cio - in response. During the quiz she was unable to answer any questions correctly in the cash building round of the show, passing questions and answering others incorrectly.

Yesterday Hannah, who was 19 when the episode was filmed, spoke to The Argus to set the record straight.

She said the backlash was unfair and not everything previously reported about her was correct, particularly because at the time of filming she had just joined university and not had any lessons.

She said: "It was unfair that it caused so much of a reaction when all I did was play a game show.

"Just to make it clear that at the time of filming [in October last year] I hadn't even started at university. I study beginners' Italian so I hadn't even had a lesson of Italian before the show.

"I achieved nine A* at GCSE, five AS and three A levels and received a gold Duke of Edinburgh award. So the perception of me as a dumb student isn't true."

Later in the show Walsh said: "Can I be honest Hannah? You don't know an awful lot do you?"

She then faced the chaser Shaun Wallace and was offered the chance to move one step closer to be in with a chance of winning £40,000.

This was because her odds in getting the question right were so low.

But she declined and instead chose to start a place further away from the chaser, losing £1,000 from the team's prize fund.

In the final she answered one question in the two minute team quick-fire round and walked away with more than £2,000, which she will use to go to the Bahamas with her family.

Soon after the show, viewers took to social media stating they were "fuming" and "outraged" because she "got away with murder".

 

Take the quiz yourself: Here are some of the questions Hannah was asked

 

Q: Graham Chapman played Brian Cohen in which Monty Python film?

 

Q: What part of a guitar neck is also a word meaning 'to worry'?

 

Q: Former actress Nancy Davis is better known by which married surname?

 

Q: The Bible's Book of Psalms sets a man's life span at three score years and what?

 

Q: Spinning Around and Born to Try were hits for ex-cast members for what soap?

 

Q: Scientist Charles Darwin was the grandson of which famous potter?

 

Q: The Attenboroughsaurus dinosaur was named in honour of which TV naturalist?

 

Q: Jess is a member of a women's football team in what 2015 West End musical?