Countdown shake-up as Rachel Riley 'replaced' by YouTube star

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Rachel Riley is set to be temporarily replaced on Countdown by mathematician Dr Tom Crawford. The maths whizz will take a brief hiatus from the Channel 4 show to focus on another project.Dr Crawford, who is a good mate of Riley's, will join the show for the next three weeks alongside the programme's wordsmith, Susie Dent, and presenter, Colin Murray.Tom has gained popularity through his YouTube videos, which have attracted over 200,000 subscribers, with some of his content racking up to one million views online.In addition, he lectures in Applied Mathematics at Cambridge's Robinson College and sports 15 mathematics-themed tattoos.

Filming reportedly kicked off in December, and he spent considerable time working with Rachel to gear up for Countdown.Oxford University graduate Rachel commented to Metro: "Countdown viewers are in great hands with Tom, who is a brilliant Mathematician and a lovely guy."He’s also used to people commenting on the clothes he wears (or lack of them) on his show so I am sure he will take to the role like a duck to water." Dr Tom continued: "All of my work online is about sharing my love of Maths with the world whilst trying to make it accessible for everyone."Countdown has been doing that for a generation, so it really is a dream come true to be joining this iconic show to cover Rachel.

I may even have to get another tattoo to commemorate the event."Rachel took over from Carol Vorderman in January 2009, who had held the position from 1982 until December 2008.

Her duties on the show include managing the letter boards and verifying calculations.In December 2022, she was honoured with an MBE for her contributions to Holocaust Education in the New Year Honours List. You can catch up on countdown on