Rachel Annabelle Riley (born 11 January 1986) is an English television presenter. She co-presents the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

daytime puzzle show '' Countdown'' and its comedy spin-off ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of '' Countdown'', but presented in a comedy panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

''. She is a

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

graduate. Her television debut came when she joined ''Countdown'' aged 22. With an interest in popularising mathematics and the sciences, she has since co-presented ''

The Gadget Show ''The Gadget Show'' is a British television series which focuses on consumer technology. The show, which was broadcast on Channel 5, is presented by Ortis Deley, with reports from Georgie Barrat and Jon Bentley. Originally a thirty-minute ...

'' on Channel 5 (2013–14) and '' It's Not Rocket Science'' on ITV (2016). She was also a contestant on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

celebrity dance show ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'' in 2013. As an anti-racism campaigner, she was appointed a

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

education and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

awareness.

Early life and early career

Riley was born in

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

. Her mother is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and she has stated that her "family came over in the

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

" from Tsarist Russia. Riley was raised in the Thorpe Bay area of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

and was educated at the independent Thorpe Hall School, and Southend High School for Girls, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, where she passed four

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

s at grade A, after which she obtained a second-class degree in applied maths at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

. During a university holiday, Riley considered a career in the financial sector and completed an internship at

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. The experience put her off: she found the extreme behaviour of City traders wearing, and she disliked the early-morning train commute.

Television career

''Countdown''

On ''Countdown'', Riley replaced the long-serving Carol Vorderman. Like Vorderman, Riley's role is to place tiles on the board for the letters and numbers rounds and to find a solution in the numbers rounds if the contestants are unable to do so. Riley's appointment to ''Countdown'' was announced at the same time as the announcement of a new main host,

Jeff Stelling Robert Jeffrey Stelling (born 18 March 1955) is an English television presenter. He presented '' Gillette Soccer Saturday'' for Sky Sports from 1994 until 2023 and hosted coverage of the Champions League between 2011 and 2015. He also present ...

, replacing Des O'Connor; the duo of Stelling and Riley was in place for the new series beginning in January 2009. Although she had no ambition to be a television presenter, she was encouraged to apply by her mother, and decided to do so because she was interested in the numbers part of the game. Having beaten 1,000 applicants for the role, she commented, "There's only one cool maths job around and I was lucky enough to get it so I'm absolutely thrilled." Since its first broadcast on 2 January 2012, Riley has also performed her ''Countdown'' role on the comedy crossover spin-off version, ''

'', alongside comedian

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...

as host.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

From September 2013, Riley appeared in the eleventh series of the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

ballroom dancing programme ''

'' with professional dancing partner and future husband Pasha Kovalev. She was eliminated in week six of the show, on 3 November 2013, after losing out in the dance-off against Abbey Clancy and Aljaž Škorjanec, who went on to win the series. According to Riley, she lacked a natural talent for performing, so instead sought to frame each dance as that of a character. For the first five weeks, Riley suffered from

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia that may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

, commenting, "As soon as the music would start, I would have a fuzzy brain and it was like an out-of-body experience"; after seeing a cognitive behavioural therapist, she was able to control her breathing, and so was only able to truly enjoy the show for what proved to be her final appearance.

Other work

From 2013 to 2014, Riley co-presented the Channel 5 programme ''

'' with Jason Bradbury. She worked on three series of the show and was later replaced by Amy Williams. In 2016, Riley was part of the three-person presenting team for ITV's six-part series, '' It's Not Rocket Science'', billed by the network as an entertainment series celebrating science. In August 2016, it was announced that Riley had joined

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

to present ''Friday Night Football'' alongside her former ''Countdown'' co-presenter Jeff Stelling, and ''Fantasy Football Club'' with

Max Rushden Max Paul Rushden (born 18 April 1979) is an English radio and television presenter and the current host of ''The Guardian''s '' Football Weekly'' podcast. Career Rushden's first presenting role was BBC London 94.9's breakfast show from December ...

and Paul Merson. She left ''Friday Night Football'' in 2017.

Personal life

In August 2012, Riley married Jamie Gilbert, whom she had met while they were both studying at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. It was announced in November 2013 that they were separating. The split has been cited as an example of the ''Strictly'' curse. She began dating her ''Strictly'' dance partner, Pasha Kovalev, soon after the show ended in December 2013. On 28 June 2019, Riley and Kovalev married in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. On 15 December 2019, Riley gave birth to a girl, the couple's first child. On 5 November 2021, Riley gave birth to their second daughter. Riley is a keen supporter of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, like her father, who was originally from

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

; in October 2010, Riley presented a programme on the club's television channel MUTV which featured a tour of their Trafford Training Centre in Carrington. She has also hosted episodes of '' An Audience with...'' on the channel. To mark her 1,000th episode of ''Countdown'' (aired on 25 June 2013), United player

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

presented her with a signed team shirt, Giggs himself having celebrated his 1,000th game for the club the same year. In her appearance as a contestant on the BBC quiz show '' Celebrity Mastermind'', broadcast on 4 January 2012, her specialist subject was a limited (13-year) history of the club; she eventually finished in joint second place. Since 2016, Riley has worked with Grassroot Soccer, a global adolescent health organisation that leverages the power of football to equip young people with the life-saving information, services, and mentorship they need to live healthier lives. Riley is a Global Ambassador for the organisation and a member of its UK Board of Directors. In 2017, Riley was the co-winner with

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

of the Rear of the Year award. She and her husband became

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

in 2018. She is

Politics

In 2018, Riley began a campaign against the way the Labour Party under the leadership of

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

had handled allegations of antisemitism. She said she decided to speak out after seeing "

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

is a racist endeavour" posters on London bus stops. In September 2018, after criticising Corbyn over the ongoing antisemitism allegations, she stated she did not have "any party loyalties". In February 2019, according to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and '' i'', Riley had been involved in talks to set up a

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

breakaway party from Labour. According to ''Jewish News'' in April 2019, Riley backed the Stop Funding Fake News campaign. In November 2019, Riley posted an image on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

of herself wearing a shirt with an edited image of Corbyn carrying a sign bearing the caption "Jeremy Corbyn is a racist endeavour". The tweet was condemned by some for erasing the struggle against the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime in South Africa, the original subject of the sign, to make a political point, with some users calling for Riley to be fired. The professional photographer who took the original shot, Rob Scott, also declared his displeasure, claiming she had "illegally manipulated and printed" the picture to "cynically promote her agenda", adding: "I am appalled by the abuse of property, moral rights and change of anti-racist message to anti-Corbyn one." In February 2019, Riley and fellow campaigner Tracy-Ann Oberman instructed a lawyer to take action against 70 individuals who had posted tweets which Riley and Oberman regarded as either libellous or harassment. As a result, Riley and Oberman sued one person who had retweeted a link to an article which had accused Oberman and Riley of harassing a young Labour activist who had commented on antisemitism in the Labour Party. In May 2019, a High Court judge ruled that the article that was linked in the tweet was defamatory. In July 2020, Riley and Oberman dropped their joint libel suit and contributed towards the defendant's legal costs. In 2021, Riley was awarded £10,000 damages by a High Court judge after suing Laura Murray, then an aide of Corbyn, over comments made on Twitter that included "This woman ileyis as dangerous as she is stupid." On 16 November 2022, Riley was awarded £50,000 in damages after a libel action against Michael Sivier, a blogger who had accused Riley of abusing a teenager during a 2019 Twitter discussion. Sivier had previously been found liable for three of the four claims against him before the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ordered a review of the exclusion of a public interest defense. The High Court's subsequent decision reaffirmed the judgment against Sivier and the

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

awarded to Riley. Riley was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

for services to Holocaust education and antisemitism awareness. In March 2024, Riley appeared on a panel the Swipe-Up Rise-Up conference to call on Jewish students to "be courageous" in calling out antisemitism. In April 2024, during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Riley accused

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

of antisemitism when an

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

update displayed the Palestinian flag as a suggested emoji when users type in the word "

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

". After the 2024 Bondi Junction stabbings, and before the facts of the incident emerged, Riley linked the attack to support for

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and the "global intifada", stating: "If you want to know what 'globalise the intifada' looks like, see the Sydney mall." The post was "heavily accused of perpetuating

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

". Riley subsequently deleted her post and said she was "sorry if this message was misunderstood". Riley stated that her comments were not meant to imply a link to

Islamic extremism Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...

. The perpetrator was later identified as Joel Cauchi, a 40-year-old mentally ill man from

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

. Channel 4 stated: "We have reminded Rachel of her obligations as a contributor to Channel 4 programming."

Other work

Riley has visited schools to enthuse pupils on the "joys of applied maths,

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

and

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

and so on". In June 2019, Riley was criticised by environmental groups and accused of

greenwashing Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses green PR and green marketing to persuade the public that an organization's products, goals, or ...

for her promotion of the "future energy solutions" of

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, an oil and gas company. She participated in an April 2022 study by Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

failed to act on 90% of abusive direct messages sent to high-profile women. In October 2021, Riley published her first book, ''At Sixes and Sevens: How to Understand Numbers and Make Maths Easy''.

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

* '' Chris Moyles' Quiz Night'' (22 March 2009) * '' This Morning'' (26 March 2010) * ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (stylised as ''8 out of 10 CATS'') is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from ...

'' (17 June 2011, 12 August 2011, 21 October 2011, 23 March 2012, 11 May 2012, 15 June 2012, 29 October 2012, 1 February 2013) * '' Celebrity Mastermind'' (4 January 2012) * '' The Bank Job: Celebrity Special'' (16 March 2012) * '' The Chase: Celebrity Special'' (19 August 2012, 8 June 2018) * '' 12 Again'' (2 November 2012) * '' Pointless Celebrities'' (17 December 2012) * '' Sunday Brunch'' (10 February 2013) * '' Five Minutes to a Fortune'' (21 April 2013) * '' Tipping Point: Lucky Stars'' (9 June 2013) * '' Top Gear'' (30 June 2013) * '' I Love My Country'' (31 August 2013) * '' Sweat the Small Stuff'' (12 November 2013) * '' Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (4 February 2014) * '' The Guess List'' (24 May 2014) * '' Backchat'' (3 June 2014) * ''TV OD'' (19 June 2014) * '' Celebrity Fifteen to One'' (27 June 2014) * ''

Virtually Famous ''Virtually Famous'' is a British comedy panel game show most recently presented by Chris Ramsey. In each episode, two teams of three panelists compete. The teams were, in the final series, captained by Vicky Pattison and Seann Walsh. The que ...

'' (21 July 2014) * '' Celebrity Squares'' (8 October 2014) * ''

Text Santa ''Text Santa'' was a charity initiative set up in 2011 by ITV to support UK-based charities during the Christmas period. The appeal to the public is to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise. The telethons have been h ...

'' (19 December 2014) * '' Would I Lie to You?'' (22 December 2014) * '' Room 101'' (18 February 2015) * '' Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit'' (26 September 2016) * '' Saturday Kitchen'' (3 December 2016) * '' Play to the Whistle'' (28 February 2017) * ''

Through the Keyhole ''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by David Frost, Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter explores celebrities' h ...

'' (3 February 2018) * '' The Crystal Maze'' (22 June 2018) * '' Richard Osman's House of Games'' (12-16 November 2018) * '' Michael McIntyre's The Wheel'' (9 January 2021), (24 February 2024) * '' Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'' (9 November 2021) * '' Saturday Kitchen

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

Special'' (24 September 2022) * '' Beat The Chasers - Celebrity Special'' (19 January 2024) * '' The Festive Pottery Throwdown 2024'' (26 December 2024) * ''

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 ...

'' (12 April 2025) * '' Bridge of Lies'' (31 May 2025) She has also made brief appearances in '' Dispatches'', '' Britain's Brightest'' and '' 1001 Things You Should Know''.

Recognition

* "For services to Holocaust Education", Riley was awarded an MBE in the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Rachel 1986 births Living people Activists against antisemitism Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English atheists English Jews English women television presenters Jewish atheists People educated at Southend High School for Girls People from Rochford People from Southend-on-Sea English secular Jews Television personalities from Essex Members of the Order of the British Empire English people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish British anti-racism activists Jewish English activists British anti-racism activists