Chris Wills (born 17 February 1978 in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

) is a British gameshow contestant who was a series champion of ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and ev ...

'' in 2002 and a veteran of numerous other shows.

''Countdown''

Wills first appeared on ''Countdown'' on 14 January 2002, winning all eight of his heat games and becoming the #1 seed of his series, including the highest ever score in 20 years of ''Countdown'', 129, on 17 January. He beat two more contestants to reach the final where he beat Tom Hargreaves 110-67. He averaged 110 points per game. Wills was invited back to the "Champion of Champions" tournament, where he won three successive games including a score of 120 to reach the final against

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

. The final was a tense, low-scoring game and he lost 79-73. Since recording this game, he has made two further appearances on ''Countdown'', against

Julian Fell Julian Fell is a winning contestant from the British game show ''Countdown (game show), Countdown'' and is widely considered to be among the greatest Countdowners of all time. He was the 48th champion of the show. He scored 924 points in the heat ...

, the player that beat his highest ever score of 129, and against Conor Travers, the youngest ever series winner at 14 years old. He lost both of these games.

Other television appearances

Wills is a veteran of numerous other game shows, appearing on '' 15-to-1'' before appearing on ''Countdown'', and later winning ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

'', taking away prize money of £2,540. He appeared on ''

BrainTeaser ''BrainTeaser'' was a British game show based on the original Dutch format of ''Puzzeltijd'' (English: Puzzle Time). The show was broadcast live, with phone-in viewer puzzles being announced and played during the show in addition to the studi ...

'' and reached the final after beating three other contestants, but after failing to solve the

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

TANTRIC + E (INTERACT), he failed to win any money. He also appeared on ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...

''. In 2008 he appeared on '' 1 vs. 100'' and eliminated 99 of his 100 opponents, but again left the studio with no money. He appeared on the first edition of '' A Question of Genius'' on 16 March 2009 and won £5,000 by correctly identifying

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

' song title which contains a spelling mistake (" Cemetry Gates") and remained at the top of the leader board throughout the series, earning a place in the grand final. Although he only finished joint third in the final, he was the series' joint biggest money winner with £5,000. He also appeared on the 14th episode of the third series of ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers t ...

''.

Political career

Wills was elected as a Labour councillor in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

's Withington ward in 2016.

External links

Interview with ChrisChris Wills entry on Countdown Wiki
Contestants on British game shows Countdown (game show) 1978 births Living people People from Folkestone {{UK-bio-stub