With Anne Robinson having announced this week that she’s set to step down as Countdown host after less than a year in the job, there have been lots of rumours and suggestions as to who might take over as the new presenter on the popular game show.
One name that’s been mentioned as a possible replacement is someone who’s by no means a stranger to the programme: former numbers expert Carol Vorderman, who The Sun recently reported is a top choice for the role among show bosses.
But former host Nick Hewer, who presented the show for almost a decade between 2012 and 2021, reckons she might not be the right choice, in part because she’s too closely associated with another job on the programme.
Asked about the possibility in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, he said: “I’ve been on her show a couple of times, she’s got a [BBC] Radio Wales show.
“I don’t know whether there would be a sort of conflict in a way because both she and Rachel [Riley] did the same job. So I don’t know.
“I think she’s a very popular woman, but I would have thought that it would slightly confuse the audience, which is a very faithful audience, [with] some people watching it for years and years.
He added, “I just think that there might be – people might be a bit confused.”
For her part, Vorderman recently said it would be “an honour” to return to the show and thanked fans for their comments, but appeared to distance herself from the gig by wishing luck to the future host.
“I want to wish whoever is the lucky human to be the new host all the love and 9 letter words in the world,” she wrote on Twitter.
Thank you to all of you saying such lovely things about a possibility of me returning to Countdown. You’re very kind & it would be an honour ❤️
— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) May 4, 2022
but I want to wish whoever is the lucky human to be the new host all the love and 9 letter words in the world ❤️ #CountWell #HappyDays pic.twitter.com/NqeRrerTlR
As for who else might be a good fit for the job, Hewer had a wealth of suggestions, including one person he picked out as something of a “wildcard” choice: Dragon’s Den star Stephen Bartlett.
“He’s very popular, a pretty smart guy,” he said, before also picking out BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan as someone he’d like to see get the job.
Several other names – including Richard Osman and Moira Stuart – have been mentioned as possibilities by fans so far, and it will certainly be interesting to see who ends up following in the footsteps of Robinson, Hewer, Jeff Stelling, Des O’Connor, Des Lynam, and original presenter Richard Whiteley as the seventh permanent presenter of the series.
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