Countdown’s maths sensation Rachel Riley can thank teachers at a school in Essex for helping her develop what can sometimes seem an incredible ability at solving problems.
Rachel, 37, was born in Rochford in January 1986 to a Russian Jewish ancestry. Although she ‘didn’t always feel like she was Jewish’, Rachel now identifies as Jewish after she suffered abuse for her campaign against antisemitism and criticism of Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.
The TV star studied at Thorpe Hall School and Southend High School for Girls where she achieved four A’s at A-Level. She then went on to study mathematics at Oxford University where, during her studies, she completed an internship with Deutsche Bank in London.
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She soon learned that finance was not the path she wanted to go down, however, as she realised she did not enjoy the early-morning commute nor the behaviour of city traders. Aged 22, she applied to be the presenter of Countdown following encouragement from her mum in 2008.
Although she never wanted to become a presenter, she said that she ‘liked the maths part of the show.’ Since then, the TV star has hosted the spin-off version 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, with Jimmy Carr, Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, ITV’s It’s Not Rocket Science and Sky Sport’s Friday Night Football.
She also competed on the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and was eliminated in the sixth week. Despite her vast intelligence, in 2016, when Rachel appeared on a celebrity special of Child Genius for Stand Up For Cancer, she was beaten at a tough maths challenge by a 12-year-old genius.
At the age of 25, in 2012, Rachel got married to Jamie Gilbert. The couple had met whilst studying at Oxford University. However, they announced their split in November 2013.
In December 2013, she then began dating her Strictly dance partner Pasha Kovalev. The couple got married in Las Vegas in June 2019 and welcomed their first child Maven Aria in December 2019. Their second child was born on November 8, 2021.
The TV star became caught up in an online row when she shared a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt adjourned with a picture of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn which accused him of being “racist”. The image was edited from an original photograph of Mr Corbyn being arrested at an anti-apartheid protest in 1984.
However, Riley defended herself and posted a series of links to articles which reported the ANC once advised Mr Mandela against meeting with the anti-apartheid group Mr Corbyn was a member of in the 1980s, as it was not part of the mainstream Anti-Apartheid Movement.
Then in November 2022 she was awarded damages of £50,000 by a High Court judge after suing a political blogger for libel over an article alleging she was a “serial abuser” and had bullied a teenager.
Nowadays Rachel continues to work as a co-presenter on Countdown alongside Colin Murray and it’s spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown alongside Jimmy Carr.
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