What do you think?
Anne Robinson – yes, the Anne Robinson – has been confirmed as the new host of Countdown on Channel 4.
The show boasts mathematician Rachel Riley on numbers, since she replaced Carol Vorderman in 2009, and lexicographer Susie Dent in dictionary corner.
Robinson, best known for hosting The Weakest Link on the BBC, will join Riley and Dent this summer.
“I am beyond thrilled to be joining Countdown,” Robinson said in a statement.
“The show is almost as old as I am and just as historic. I am particularly excited to be working alongside the Show’s two other formidable women. Worryingly, Susie [Dent] and Rachel [Riley] are not only very smart but younger, prettier and thinner than me. Sadly, there’s no time for another face lift so I’ll have make do with this old one.
“Three Clever Girls Do Countdown! Don’t you love the sound of that?
“I am a crossword nut so the Countdown’s conundrums I can make sense of. But the adding up and taking away – I can’t go much further than working out the fee once my agent takes his cut.”
Robinson will be the first female host of the show and will take over from Nick Hewer, who announced he was leaving the Channel 4 show late last year.
Hewer had been host of the show since he took over from Jeff Stelling back in 2011.
“This latest lockdown has given me an opportunity to consider my future life and I’ve decided it’s a good time to step down at the end of my contract in the New Year,” Hewer said.
“As someone in his 77th year, who will be in his 10th year hosting the great British institution that is Countdown, I think it’s time to smell the flowers and get a dog.”
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