Rachel Riley was moved to tears while watching old clips of a TV show featuring her late colleague, comedian Sean Lock, who died of lung cancer five years ago at the age of 58.
Riley paid a heartfelt tribute to Lock, who served as one of the team captains on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown from its launch in 2012 until his passing, alongside Jon Richardson. She said his absence is still deeply felt.
"We miss Sean so much"
Appearing on BBC Radio Ulster, she told presenter Anne-Marie Wallace: "It's around about the five-year anniversary since we lost Sean Lock. They were playing us some of his old clips - you forget things that have happened. It's a front row seat to comedy, which I absolutely love."
She added: "It's such a good show to work on, we miss Sean so much. Even watching the old clips back, because I've forgotten what happened, you're just sort of crying watching it. With Sean, it's tears of sadness but mostly tears of laughter because it's just so funny."
A special place in her heart
The programme blends elements of Countdown with the comedy panel format of 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Riley said it holds a very special place in her heart. "To work on something like that, it's brought Countdown to a new audience as well. So yeah, we love doing that."
The mathematics expert first secured her breakthrough role taking over from Carol Vorderman on Countdown aged just 22 - essentially her first position after graduating from the University of Oxford with a degree in applied mathematics. Following her mother's encouragement to apply, she triumphed over 1,000 other candidates.
Nearly 18 years on Countdown
She has since also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, where she crossed paths with her now-husband Pasha Kovalev. The 40-year-old mother of two reflected warmly on her near two decades on Countdown, saying: "I love it. I used to watch it as a kid myself."
"Our audience, we're so lucky that we've had contestants who used to watch it with their grandparents, and now they're introducing their kids to letters and numbers for the first time on Countdown."
"We're so lucky to be part of this national institution. I'm just lucky that social media wasn't around when I got my job because it's nearly 18 years now, it would have been brutal. It's a completely different landscape to 2008 when I got this job."
