{"id":1218,"date":"2025-02-25T11:18:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T12:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/?p=1218"},"modified":"2025-02-26T18:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T18:40:12","slug":"countdown-contestant-reveals-hidden-feature-that-catches-players-off-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/countdown-contestant-reveals-hidden-feature-that-catches-players-off-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Countdown contestant reveals hidden feature that catches players \u2018off guard\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Countdown\t<\/div>
Countdown contestants have multiple conundrums to solve (Picture: Channel 4)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Countdown<\/a> contestant has spilled a huge behind-the-scenes secret on the Channel 4<\/a> show.<\/p>\n

For 23 years, players<\/a> have been testing their literary competency by making the longest world possible out of nine letters against the clock.<\/p>\n

They are also challenged to use six numbers to hit a target figure with arithmetic under a strict time limit of 30 seconds.<\/p>\n

While that sounds like enough of a headache as it is, a former contestant has revealed the show has another feature that catches you ‘off guard.’<\/p>\n

Viewers at home will be familiar with Countdown’s clock trademark ‘booming’ sound as it counts down the seconds – and players in the studio hear it too.<\/p>\n

It can all be a bit much for the maths and English whizzes who can find the ticking more than distracting.<\/p>\n

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much more relaxing than being in the studio, faced with cameras and feeling the pressure of the clock booming in each round (it’s not edited in, it plays whilst you’re there which caught me off guard a little when I was on).’<\/p>\n<p>Former Countdown contestant Jen Steadman, who was an octochamp on series 69 of Countdown in 2023, previously spoke to <strong>Metro<\/strong> about her experience on the show.<\/p>\n<p>She revealed another snag players encounter: Susie Dent’s dictionary and Scrabble’s are not the same.<\/p>\n<p>Jen revealed: \u2018The Scrabble and Countdown dictionaries are totally different, which is really annoying. It means lots of words aren\u2019t valid in one but are valid in another.’<\/p>\n<p>As for how to appear on the programme, Jen said it starts with an application form on the Channel 4 website before a phone audition during which hopefuls play Countdown.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"400\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SEI_167720202-cc13.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22593100\" alt=\"Undated handout photo issued by Channel 4 of the Countdown team (left to right) Rachel Riley, Colin Murray and Susie Dent. TV and radio presenter Colin Murray has been named the new permanent host of Countdown after acting as "caretaker" for the past half-year. Issue date: Wednesday January 11, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story SHOWBIZ Countdown . Photo credit should read: Channel 4\/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Players must also try and not be distracted by the clock’s ‘booming’ ticking sound (Picture: PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She said: ‘My audition consisted of five letters rounds, two numbers rounds and two conundrums. I found the audition pretty stressful and missed some words I knew, but still passed. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018If you\u2019re getting mostly 7s in the letters rounds and you solve at least one numbers [round] and one conundrum, you\u2019ll probably get on the show.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>Countdown was the first programme aired on Channel 4 when the broadcaster launched in November 1982.<\/p>\n<p>Adapted from the French TV series Des Chiffres Et Des Lettres (Numbers and Letters), it was originally hosted by Richard Whiteley.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequent presenters included Des Lynam, Des O\u2019Connor and Jeff Stelling, with TV and radio presenter Colin Murray named the permanent host in 2023, following Anne Robinson\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n<p>Carol Vorderman appeared on the show as the assistant host, managing the letters board and checking calculations, for 26 years from 1982 until December 2008, and was replaced by Rachel Riley.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Countdown airs on Channel 4 every weekday afternoon from 2.10pm.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Countdown contestants have multiple conundrums to solve (Picture: Channel 4) A Countdown contestant has spilled a huge behind-the-scenes secret on the Channel 4 show. For 23 years, players have been<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/countdown-contestant-reveals-hidden-feature-that-catches-players-off-guard\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Countdown contestant reveals hidden feature that catches players \u2018off guard\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1218"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1223,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218\/revisions\/1223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}