Chris Wills (born 17 February 1978 in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal 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, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

) is a British gameshow contestant who became the 47th series champion of '' Countdown'' 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 a British and American musician, singer and songwriter. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills ...

. The final was a tense, low-scoring game and he lost 79–73. Since recording this game, he has made three further appearances on ''Countdown'', against Julian Fell, 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. In 2013, Wills returned to Countdown as one of the 41 contestants taking part in the 30th Birthday Championship. After defeating Martin Bishop in the first round, he lost to eventual runner-up Jack Hurst in the next round.

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 The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'', taking away prize money of £2,540. He appeared on '' BrainTeaser'' 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 the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

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 the ...

''. 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 music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

' 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 episodes 14 and 15 of the third series of ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

''.

Political career

Wills was elected as a Labour councillor in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

's Withington ward in 2016.

External links

* Contestants on British game shows 1978 births Living people People from Folkestone {{UK-bio-stub