The Chase star Anne Hegerty finally meets autistic boy who wrote to her

Anne Hegerty meets the young boy who sent her an open letter about autism that went viral. Photo / Twitter

The Chase and I'm a Celeb star Anne Hegerty has just met the 11-year-old boy with autism who wrote her an open letter about his condition.

Joseph Hughes and Anne both appeared on This Morning after his letter went viral.

Sixty-year-old Hegerty was presented with a picture of The Thunderbirds he drew for her and then looked at the book the National Autistic Society had created.

Joseph's letter is printed on the front of the book and he says it was "really good" to meet Anne in real life.

I’m A Celebrity star @anne_hegerty meets superfan Joseph who wrote her a heartfelt letter about his experiences of autism pic.twitter.com/dVaKMCaKFY

— This Morning (@thismorning) December 13, 2018

The letter Joseph wrote to Anne revealed 'people are mean to him' because of his autism.

The letter read: "To Anne. My name is Joseph Hughes and I am 11. I live in Preston, Lancashire and I go to a specialist school.

"I was diagnosed with autism when I was 5. I like to watch you on The Chase and now I have been watching you in the Jungle. I think you are very brave for going in the Jungle, I couldn't go there because there are too many bugs.

"You are very clever. Sometimes people are mean to me because I am autistic but watching you makes me see that other people can have autism too and maybe I can have a cool job like you when I am older.

"Do you like Thunderbirds? I love them. My favourite is Thunderbird 2. I have drawn you a picture I hope you like it.

"Good luck in the Jungle I hope you win. Love from Joseph."