I was never one of those student-y types who obsessed over Countdown. I have yet to get an eight-letter word (or anything much over six), I'm hopeless at the maths rounds, and turn chronically dyslexic when faced with a Countdown Conundrum. But I still respect and hold affection for this number-and-letters game -- the first programme to air on Channel 4 when it launched back in 1982. The death of iconic host Richard Whiteley in 2005 sparked a period of adjustment for Countdown (two replacement hosts, no less) that has now led to the loss of veteran co-host Carol Vorderman over a pay dispute.Today, Countdown said GDOOEYB to the show's second replacement host Des O'Connor and, more importantly, Vorderman herself -- a woman who has single-handedly made maths sexy over the past 25 years. Well, okay, sexier. Mind you, I half-suspect Countdown was Carol's version of Dorian Gray's painting, so perhaps she'll stop ageing backwards now?
The last episode was overshadowed by the imminent departure of Carol, as you'd expect. It must have been slightly annoying for the contestants that everyone was more concerned with Carol leaving than them winning a trophy. I also had to giggle at someone in the audience audibly sighing when Carol doled out her last ever letters. It was a "T", in case you had a student-y bet riding on it. And yes, Carol herself blubbed when asked to say a few words at the very end. Or maybe she realized the awful truth: she's spent a quarter of a century stuck in Leeds doing a calculator's job, and has Gyles Brandreth's phone number?
No, I'm only kidding. Carol Vorderman's a genuine TV icon for us Brits and it's a shame she was asked to take a 90% pay-cut by bosses. There aren't many (or any?) other celebrities still working on the show they became famous for, is there? But -- just like Michael Aspel found out on The Antiques Roadshow, when Fiona Bruce suceeded him -- Vorderman has been replaced by a new, slicker, sexier model. 22-year-old Rachel Riley:
That's her on the left, with new host Richard Stelling (of Sky Sports fame). So yes, after three years absence, another Dick's got his finger on the Countdown clock. Isn't Rachel nice? Quite a few four-letter words have entered my head. Maybe there's still hope for me solving a conundrum one day...
