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Riley, Rachel (Master of Ceremony / Event Hosts)
Presenter & Awards Host  23 year old Oxford graduate Rachel Riley is the new face of Channel 4's Countdown, co-hosting with Jeff Stelling.
Essex-born Rachel beat a thousand other applicants to get what she describes as 'the only cool maths job around'. Having had the Countdown theme-tune as her mobile phone ringtone for years, Rachel bought five Countdown puzzle books and tackled over 500 different numbers games in order to hone her skills for the auditions. She wowed producers with her maths expertise and natural on-screen charisma. Brought up in Thorpe Bay, Essex she excelled at science and twice won best mathematician at school. Her sixth form teacher dubbed her a 'little Einstein'. In spite of this, Rachel has been beaten a few times by the Countdown clock! Rachel’s talents extend well beyond Maths and Science, having represented her school in hockey, netball, cross-country running and winning trophies in athletics. She went on to captain the Oriel College Netball team and played in the women's football team. Rachel is an avid Manchester United fan. She graduated from Oriel College Oxford with a degree in Mathematics, covering Quantum Theory, Fluid Mechanics and Applied Maths and was made a scholar in 2006. |
