Countdown duo boost ratings for C4

Countdown duo boost ratings for C4 (Image credit: Contract Number (Programme))

Countdown's new hosts Jeff Stelling and Rachel Riley have pulled in thousands of extra viewers. Channel 4 bosses are delighted that ratings have soared by 11 per cent since maths whizz Rachel and football pundit Jeff took the helm of the long-running quiz, according to the Daily Mirror. In the opening days of their show the duo managed to attract an audience of 1.3 million and have managed a steady 1.1 million since - figures that easily outstrip those of 2008. A spokesman for Channel 4 said: "We are delighted. Jeff and Rachel make a fantastic team." Rachel, 23, beat more than 1,000 applicants to be selected as Carol Vorderman's replacement, who left the show after 26 years following an alleged row over pay. A source told the Mirror: "In Rachel's first batch of filming she was a little nervous and camera-shy. But she has improved massively and has more confidence now so I am sure she will help to attract many more male viewers to the show. "She is beautiful and has the maths brains needed, so she is a big factor in the show's new success. Jeff also seems to be helping get new viewers - possibly football fans." Get exclusive access to your favourite stars. Subscribe to TV Times magazine

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.