Rachel Riley - A Fan Site

Rachel Riley is the co-host of Countdown, one of Britain’s longest running quiz/problem solving shows. She is responsible for the maths element of the show.

She was born on March 11, 1986 in Paddington, London and was educated at Southend High School for Girls and then studied mathematics at Oriel College, Oxford, where she got a 2:1.

There were more than 1,000 applications for the co-host job on Countdown, in which Rachel replaces Carol Vorderman, who worked on the show for 26 years before stepping down after she was allegedly offered a massive pay cut. Prior to landing the job she had no television experience, having previously worked as an intern in a City job and a marketing analyst after leaving university. She has always been a fan of Countdown and before applying for the job had the show’s theme tune as her mobile ringtone. When she was much younger she was given a Countdown chocolate gift set as a present.

The Daily Mail quoted her as saying: “Prior to my audition I bought five Countdown puzzle books and tackled over 500 different numbers games in order to hone my skills.”

When she landed the job as Countdown presenter, Rachel Riley was quoted by BBC as saying: "There's only one cool maths job around and I was lucky enough to get it so I'm absolutely thrilled.” She was described as an ‘Essex girl’ by the Daily Mail, which seems to be pushing it as she was not born in Essex.

She will take on the role in the 60th series of Countdown, which was the first ever show broadcast on Channel 4.

Her co-host is Jeff Stelling, best known for presenting Super Saturday on Sky Sports.

It is claimed she is being paid £100,000 a year for working around 55 days per year on Countdown.

Carol Vorderman sent Rachel Riley a massive bunch of flowers to congratulate her on getting the job.

Rachel Riley still lives at home with her parents, although how long that lasts is open to question with her salary and likely media deals that go with the Countdown job.

More information, gleaned from her management company:

Rachel Riley is managed by Tracey Macleod at KBJ Management.

She was brought up in Thorpe Bay, Essex. At school she excelled at science and twice won the prize for the best mathematician in the school. Her sixth form teacher nicknamed her "Little Einstein".

Rachel Riley represented her school in hockey, netball and cross-country running and she won trophies in athletics. At university she captained the Oriel College Netball team and played in the women's football team.

Rachel Riley is an avid Manchester United fan.

Her specialist areas for her Oxford degree in Mathematics were Quantum Theory, Fluid Mechanics and Applied Maths. She was made a scholar in 2006.

Rachel Riley's mother is called Celia and her father is called Chris. Chris is an accountant (numbers background in the family then...)

Rachel's boyfriend is called Jamie Gilbert and she has been going out with him since 2005. In summer 2009 she went on holiday to Borneo with him.

UPDATE: Rachel split up with Jamie Gilbert in the autumn of 2009, citing that they mutually decided to split up after four years together.

When she left Oxford she worked as a data analyst for a website company in London.

She dyes her hair darker when it goes too blonde in the sun.

Rachel Riley is 5ft 7inches tall.