Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:04APPLAUSE
00:31Hello, everybody. Happy New Year to you.
00:34And welcome to the first show of Year 41
00:37of the national treasure that is Countdown.
00:40And we begin with such a bang.
00:42The best players of the last five years
00:45coming together for a champion of champions.
00:48Watch live, record it, catch up with it,
00:52but just do not miss it.
00:54Because, Rachel Riley, the storylines are unbelievable.
00:58You know the 16 players who will be taking each other on
01:01over the next three weeks of Countdown.
01:03What's your favourite storyline?
01:05I think the best one is that we've got a husband and wife playing.
01:08Not each other, but if they both win their first match,
01:11then they will be playing each other.
01:13If you were to take on Pasha on Countdown,
01:17how much of a point lead would you give him to make a competitor?
01:21Oh, it's... I mean, that's so cruel, isn't it?
01:23Because, I mean, not only is English not his first language,
01:26but it's not even his first alphabet.
01:28So, really, cos it's slightly different,
01:30so I think I probably need a good 80.
01:32Listen, English isn't my first language
01:34and I won Celebrity Countdown, so don't worry about that.
01:37Well, the storylines are sensational.
01:39We have a repeat of the Series 80 final,
01:42which I'm really excited about.
01:44We have the highest-scoring debutante ever.
01:46We have the highest-scoring single show contestant ever.
01:49And we have one champion of champions contestant
01:52who has never scored under 100.
01:55It's going to be so special for three weeks.
01:57And we have, sorry, everybody else,
01:59I think my favourite dictionary corner ever to kick us off in 2023.
02:04We have, of course, our guardian of the dictionary, Susie Dent.
02:07And alongside her quiz show royalty,
02:11world best-selling author, the one and only Richard Osman!
02:15APPLAUSE
02:19Listen, we may need you a little bit more this week than we usually would,
02:23because big news.
02:25Susie Dent has almost lost her voice.
02:28Susie, how many times, when we're on air on a Monday...
02:31I know what you're going to say. ..no all-night raves on a Sunday.
02:34Your wild child life is going to bring this show down.
02:37I know. What can I say? I'm so sorry.
02:39Listen to that. I'll put the frog back.
02:41Somebody's had a big Christmas.
02:45If only we had somebody who knew how to marshal a quiz show
02:48and dictionary corner to help out.
02:50And I can give them the laptop.
02:52Yours has actually switched on. I've never had a real one before.
02:55Well, I love it. It's going to be great.
02:57Susie, behalf of Voice, it's still absolute delight with Richard Osman.
03:01APPLAUSE
03:03And mentioned right at the top of the show,
03:05we welcome without doubt the better half of the husband and wife duo
03:10who are competing as champion of champions.
03:12Florence, Coupleman Lines is here. How are you?
03:15Yeah, I'm good, thanks.
03:17And it's not just two Coupleman Lines in the studio.
03:21It's two and a half. Tell me about that.
03:23Yeah, my third child is due imminently, so...
03:27How imminently?
03:29Well, hopefully it's born before the end of this series final.
03:32OK, good. Listen, that could be...
03:34We'll have a reserve just in case.
03:36Well, the plot actually thickens because Florence faces Leo Smith,
03:41who made the semifinals of Series 82
03:44after having a spectacular run to OctoChamp.
03:48But, Leo, you were beaten by Florence's husband.
03:52On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate this family?
03:55LAUGHTER
03:57At least seven.
03:59How are you feeling today? Good? Good, yeah.
04:01Love the shirt. Thank you. Absolutely.
04:03It says confidence to me. Brilliant.
04:05Leo and Florence, everyone.
04:09So, here we go.
04:11Three weeks of champion of champions begins now.
04:13And, Florence, your letters.
04:15Hi, Rachel. Hi again, Florence.
04:17Can I have a consonant, please?
04:19You can indeed. Start the year with T.
04:21And a vowel.
04:23O. And a consonant.
04:25J.
04:27And a vowel.
04:29A. And a consonant.
04:31S. And a vowel.
04:33I.
04:35And a consonant.
04:37R.
04:39And another consonant.
04:41P.
04:43And a final consonant, please.
04:45And a final T.
04:47At home and in the studio, let's play Countdown.
05:15CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS
05:1930 seconds is up. Florence?
05:21Six. And Leo?
05:23Yeah, just a six. A six. OK.
05:25Florence, what's yours? Ratios.
05:27Ratios. And Leo? Patios.
05:29OK, nice, solid start.
05:31What else, Richard?
05:33Well, I have an anagram of patios, which is patois. Yeah.
05:36But also in there is an eight-letter word.
05:39Patriots.
05:41Very good. However...
05:43I don't know, did you get that or did Silent Susie get that?
05:46Er, Silent Susie wrote it down on a piece of paper
05:49and passed it across to me. But it still feels like I won.
05:52The Royal We, well done with Patriots.
05:55It's six points each, that's what matters.
05:57And Leo, my friend, you're picking the letters.
05:59Hi again, Rachel. Hi, Leo.
06:01Can I start with a consonant, please?
06:03You can indeed. Start with D.
06:05And another.
06:07S.
06:09And a third.
06:11W.
06:13And a fourth.
06:15N.
06:17And a vowel.
06:19A. And another.
06:21E. And another.
06:23O.
06:25And a fourth.
06:27E.
06:29And a final consonant, please.
06:31A final T.
06:3330 seconds.
06:41WHISTLE BLOWS
07:03Mr Smith. Er, seven, not written down.
07:06Florence. An eight.
07:08The seven is? Donate.
07:10And the it, to take an early lead, Florence.
07:12Onstead. O-N-S-T-E-E-A-D.
07:15T-E-E-A-D. Gosh.
07:18This is amazing.
07:20It's Scottish and English regional.
07:22And it means the farmhouse...
07:24It's like a steading, essentially.
07:26A farmhouse and other buildings belonging to a farm.
07:28APPLAUSE
07:31Normally it's got onstead, but you can put an extra E in it.
07:34But even Susie gasped. Even with her voice, Susie gasped.
07:37I did. I did. That's brilliant.
07:39What else, Richard? Er, standee, you could have got.
07:41Yeah. Standee.
07:43And you could have been doing what our contestants will be doing,
07:45sweated. Oh, sweated, lovely.
07:47So there's a few good words in there.
07:49I know we look so foolish after onstead, though, don't we?
07:51What a round that was.
07:53Florence takes an early lead, ten points off for grabs.
07:55Now for the first numbers round.
07:57Please can I have six more, Rachel?
07:59You can indeed. I think, like Richard,
08:01I'm not going to have much to do this week either.
08:03Right, six little ones. First challenge for you two.
08:05Three, six, nine, seven...
08:09..five and one.
08:11And the first target of the year, 321.
08:14321, numbers up.
08:38MUSIC PLAYS
08:46321, the target, the old Ted Rogers.
08:48How do you do there, Florence?
08:50Yeah, I've got 321. Very good. Leo?
08:52Yeah, 321. Off you go, Florence.
08:54Er, seven minus five is two. Yep.
08:57Nine times six is 54.
09:0054.
09:0254 multiplied by two, subtract one is 107.
09:04107. Multiplied by three.
09:06Multiplied by three. Perfect. 321. And Leo?
09:09I did nine times seven.
09:11Nine times seven, 63.
09:13Times five. Times five is 315.
09:16Add the six. And add the six.
09:18Another way to get there. Well done, you two.
09:20APPLAUSE
09:22It really is Florence and the Machine.
09:24Let's get our first tea time teaser.
09:26Pool, pill. Pool, pill.
09:29The lady and my boy, how sweet.
09:31The lady and my boy, how sweet.
09:34APPLAUSE
09:49Welcome back. Pool, pill.
09:51The lady and my boy, how sweet becomes lollipop.
09:55Our first champion of champions round of 16.
09:58Slight early lead for Florence.
10:00But it's Leo picking us up with the letters.
10:03May I start with a vowel, please?
10:05Thank you, Leo. U.
10:07And another.
10:09E.
10:11And a third.
10:13A.
10:15And a consonant.
10:17S.
10:19And another.
10:21G.
10:23And another.
10:25F.
10:27And another.
10:29Z.
10:32S.
10:36And a final consonant, please.
10:38And a final T.
10:40Love the noise, Leo. We were all thinking it. Here we go.
11:01MUSIC PLAYS
11:14Right, Leo, how did you get on?
11:16Just a six. Six and Florence.
11:18A six. There you go. Even Stevens in this round. Leo?
11:21Gauzes. Yes. And Florence.
11:23Gusset. Gusset.
11:25And gauzes. Yeah, as soon as I heard gusset,
11:27I thought, I'll have to read that out instead of Susie.
11:30Because gauzes is all we had as well.
11:32Yeah, two sixes for us. No worries.
11:34Let's get back to Florence. More letters.
11:36Can I have a consonant, please? Thank you, Florence. R.
11:39And a vowel. O.
11:41And a consonant.
11:43T. And a vowel.
11:45A.
11:47And a consonant. T.
11:49And a vowel.
11:51O.
11:53And a consonant. R.
11:55And a vowel.
11:58E.
12:00And a final consonant, please.
12:03And a final T.
12:05Thanks, Rich.
12:28That's time. Florence?
12:30A seven. Very good. Leo?
12:32I have an eight. Ooh.
12:34Big game-changing moment, Florence.
12:36Rotated. Leo, send us in a spin.
12:38Toreador.
12:40Toreador over to Susie and Richard in Dictionary Corner.
12:43Need I ask? No, please.
12:45I mean, it perfectly mirrored us here in that I got rotated,
12:48I pushed it over to Susie and she pushed back Toreador.
12:50Two sixes for us.
12:52And a final T.
12:54I mean, it perfectly mirrored us here in that I got rotated,
12:56I pushed it over to Susie and she pushed back Toreador.
12:58Two great words.
13:02All right, more numbers. Leo, you're in control for the first time today.
13:05Two large, please, Rachel. Two large.
13:07I'm not sure we're going to get too many one large,
13:09two large selections for the next few weeks, but here we go.
13:12First one.
13:14Six, two, three, seven, 50 and 25.
13:19And the target, 352.
13:22352, numbers up.
13:53I love rounds like this. I just did a shopping list,
13:56what I've got to get on the way home.
13:58Got my bread, got my butter. You've got to use the 30 seconds.
14:00Leo, just confirm it.
14:02352. Yes, and Florence.
14:04Just about managed it. Yeah, we're all looking at each other.
14:06For 28 seconds, Leo.
14:08Seven times 50, add the two.
14:10Yeah, we know you can do that.
14:12Florence.
14:14There you go. You will not waste the ink, Rachel.
14:17I love those rounds.
14:19That's the game, 40 points each, and a good time to pause
14:22and have our first proper chat with Richard Osman.
14:24I want to start by telling you a little tale about Richard,
14:27whose star has risen so much, say, over the last decade,
14:31yet he still comes on on a Saturday morning.
14:34My little radio show where, believe me, the fee is miserly,
14:38and it's a mark of the man.
14:40But, Richard, when you first put pen to paper
14:43or started typing the first line of your first novel,
14:47you couldn't have imagined in your wildest dreams...
14:50No, it's been... ..what it is now.
14:52Yeah, I've been enormously lucky in that way.
14:54Funnily enough, whenever you do sort of book events,
14:57the question you always get asked is,
14:59where do you get your ideas from?
15:01And I think creativity, it's quite hard to teach,
15:03but my experience of it has always been,
15:05I've always got little bubbles around my head
15:07where I just heard something or someone you met said something to you
15:10or seen something on television,
15:12and suddenly two of those bubbles sort of pop together
15:15and you've got an idea.
15:16And that was the case with the Thursday Murder Club.
15:18My mum lives in a retirement community down in Sussex.
15:21Everyone there is over 70.
15:23And I was down there, and on the sort of notice board,
15:26they'll have, like, Tuesday Knit and Natter Club,
15:28Wednesday Art History Club, and things like that.
15:30So that was in a little bubble in my head.
15:32I thought, that's cute.
15:33And then I was sitting on her patio,
15:35and it's a really pretty place, and the sun was out,
15:37and the birds were singing, and there's sort of lakes,
15:40and, you know, the sort of very tranquil sort of British view.
15:43And I thought, well, this would be an amazing place for a murder.
15:46As an Agatha Christie fan, that's what you're thinking.
15:49And then we go for lunch, and I started chatting to all these people.
15:52They're all over 70, and they've done amazing things with their lives.
15:56You could tell. You were hearing life stories, crazy things.
15:58They were all drinking at 11.30 in the morning.
16:01So I was thinking, I'm in a place that would be amazing for a murder.
16:05I'm with a group of people who are incredibly wise,
16:07and I've just seen this notice board that says Tuesday Knit and Natter.
16:10And the idea Thursday Murder Club,
16:12of a group of people over 70 solving murders,
16:14those three bubbles just pushed into each other.
16:17Suddenly, you've got an idea.
16:19And, yeah, that's when I wrote down the first word.
16:21And everything stemmed from there. Amazing.
16:23Richard, thank you.
16:27Let's get back to it. Love and every round, both of you.
16:30Florence, more letters.
16:31Can I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
16:33Thank you, Florence. Y.
16:35And a vowel? I.
16:37And a consonant? N.
16:40And a vowel? O.
16:42And a consonant? G.
16:45And a vowel? A.
16:48And a consonant? S.
16:51And a vowel? E.
16:55And a final consonant, please?
16:58Final, B. Half a minute.
17:10THEY CONFER
17:32So many possibilities. Florence?
17:34An eight. And Leo?
17:36Eight. Wow. Florence, your eight?
17:38Begonias. Same or different, Leo?
17:40Same. Bunch of begonias here.
17:42Let's get the dictionary corner.
17:44I'm assuming you didn't find a nine.
17:46No, we had Nosebag and Nosegay are both there for seven,
17:50but we can't beat that. You can't have Yoga-ing, I assume.
17:53Oh, erm... I've gone Yoga-ing.
17:56Yeah. Look at Susie looking up. She's such a pro.
17:59You need two Gs for that, but no, it's not there.
18:02Leo, let's save our voice and hear yours. More letters.
18:05May I start with a vowel, please?
18:07No. A.
18:09And another?
18:11E.
18:13And a third?
18:15I. And a consonant?
18:17N. And another?
18:19Q. And another?
18:22N.
18:24And a vowel?
18:26O.
18:29And a consonant?
18:31L.
18:34And...
18:39..a final vowel, please?
18:41A final A.
18:43Start the clock.
19:04CLOCK TICKS
19:15Bill Smith? Just a six.
19:17Florence? I think I've got a seven.
19:19OK, the six? Online.
19:21And, Florence, you only think, so what have you got?
19:24Aeolian? As in the wind?
19:26Yes. Absolutely brilliant.
19:28With an A at the beginning, relating to the action of the wind.
19:31Well done.
19:34So let's get our third numbers round of the day. Florence, it's you.
19:38Can I have six small again, please, Rachel? You can indeed.
19:41Still on for that husband-wife match.
19:43Let's see how this changes things.
19:45Little ones are...
19:52And the target...
19:54329. 329.
19:56Numbers up.
20:04BUZZER
20:27Florence?
20:29330.
20:31Leo? 326.
20:33326, three away, so for seven points, Florence.
20:36Eight times four plus one.
20:38Eight times four, 32 plus one?
20:41Yeah. 32 plus one, 33.
20:43And nine plus three minus two is ten.
20:46Yeah. And then times three, 30, one away.
20:48One away. Very good.
20:50So I notice Richard and I aren't screaming this time, are we?
20:53Let me have a go. Have you got it? Yeah, I think so.
20:55Wow. Fantastic. Go on, Osmond.
20:57I could be wrong. Eight plus two...
20:59Eight plus two is ten. Go on.
21:01Nine times four is 36. Yeah.
21:03Take away the three is 33.
21:06Multiply them together and take away the one.
21:09You have got it as well. Yes! Well done, Richard.
21:12Thank you for giving me that. Thank you for letting me have one.
21:15Sensational stuff.
21:17And the first proper gap opening up today, 14 points in it.
21:20Plenty of points left when we come back.
21:22Pasta hen is our second tea time teaser,
21:26just for all our Scottish viewers.
21:28Pasta hen, a small insect wearing a Turkish hat or a bird.
21:32A small insect wearing a Turkish hat or a bird.
21:51Pasta hen was our second tea time teaser.
21:54A small insect wearing a Turkish hat or a bird.
21:57However, pheasant was the answer.
21:59Back to the game at hand.
22:01Six rounds left and our first champion of champions, round of 16.
22:05So let's get cracking straight away.
22:07Leo, more letters.
22:09May I start with a vowel, please? Thank you, Leo.
22:12E. And another.
22:14I. And a third.
22:17E. And a consonant.
22:20N. And another.
22:23S. And a third.
22:27G.
22:29And another.
22:31R.
22:33And a vowel.
22:35A.
22:38And a final consonant, please.
22:40Final. C.
22:42Start the clock.
22:56CLOCK TICKS
23:14Leo? Just an eight.
23:16Florence? An eight.
23:18Leo? Creasing.
23:20Creasing. And Florence? Increase.
23:22There you go. Anything else?
23:24We'll go for ING, as we always do, but Susie has another one.
23:27Generics.
23:29As in, you might go for generics rather than trade name drugs.
23:32Well done. Florence, more letters.
23:34Can I have a consonant, please, Rachel? Thank you, Florence.
23:37B. And a vowel.
23:39E. A consonant.
23:41R. A vowel.
23:43I. A consonant.
23:46T. A vowel.
23:48O. A consonant.
23:51P. A vowel.
23:54E.
23:56And a final consonant, please.
23:58And a final T.
24:00Kind time.
24:21CLOCK TICKS
24:32That is time. Florence?
24:34Seven, not written down. OK, and Leo?
24:36Seven. OK, what's not written down?
24:38Pettier. And what is written down?
24:40Pottier. Pottier, yes.
24:42There you go. No worries at all with that.
24:44The Dictionary Corner, sevens?
24:46Yeah, we can't beat it, pottier and pettier.
24:48I assume you're not allowed pottier more like a bottom.
24:50No, I did look it up, no. Did you? Yes.
24:52Of course you did.
24:54And what about the pointless answers?
24:56I knew I was going to do that once at some stage.
24:58The pointless answer is rope tried.
25:00What is it like watching a programme now
25:05that you were so integral to for so many years?
25:09It must be a little bizarre.
25:11Watching it with other people doing it, I absolutely love it.
25:14Because I can play along.
25:16I understood why people enjoyed Pointless.
25:18Because every time I've ever played, I've got all the answers written down.
25:21So, to me, it's just like, in the name of a Tom Cruise film,
25:23I'm like, well, yeah, I'm going to say this Pointless answer.
25:26Now, when I watch at home, I'm like, oh, you can actually play along.
25:29So, I love it, and they've had amazing kind of co-hosts as well.
25:32So, honestly, me sitting at home, shouting at the TV screen,
25:35I absolutely adore it.
25:37I loved doing it, but 12 years was enough.
25:41Thank you very much.
25:43I think it's the right way of saying
25:45that we're just going to rest Susie's voice this week,
25:48because Origins of Words,
25:50this is one of the highlights of the Countdown week,
25:53you'll just sound like a frog.
25:56I can do Origins of Words if you like.
25:58OK.
25:59Bottier comes from more like a bottom.
26:02There you go.
26:03Well, we're getting to the bottom of this riddle.
26:05Who's going to make the last date of the Champions of Champions?
26:08Florence has a 14-point lead at the moment,
26:11just like that.
26:12So, Leo, let's get more letters.
26:14A consonant, please, Rachel.
26:16Thank you, Leo.
26:17N.
26:18And another.
26:20S.
26:22And a third.
26:24W.
26:26And a fourth.
26:28H.
26:30A vowel.
26:32U.
26:33And another.
26:35E.
26:36And another.
26:38A.
26:40A consonant.
26:42M.
26:46And a final consonant, please.
26:49A final H.
26:50He's done.
27:10MUSIC PLAYS
27:21Leo?
27:22Just a six.
27:23And Florence?
27:24I will stick with a six.
27:25Leo?
27:26Humane.
27:27Humane.
27:28And Florence?
27:29When you are.
27:30W-H-E-N-U-A.
27:31Yeah.
27:32We'll double-check that.
27:33Yeah, it's absolutely fine.
27:34In New Zealand, it means land.
27:36Right, what have we got in Dictionary Corner?
27:38You can't beat six. Lots and lots of sixes.
27:40None of which were when you are, I have to say.
27:43So, when you are in Dictionary Corner,
27:45there was the humane, there's also humans.
27:48And often on Pointless, when we do word rounds,
27:51you can put un in front of a lot.
27:53I wondered if I could unwash, unmesh or unmash.
27:56Most of them are there as adjectives, as in unmeshed,
27:59but unmeshed actually is there.
28:01There you go.
28:02On its own, very good.
28:03I like that one.
28:04There you go.
28:05If you've got those at home, that's your line.
28:07Right, business end of Countdown today.
28:09Florence, your letters.
28:11Can I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
28:13Thank you, Florence. F.
28:14And a vowel.
28:16E.
28:17And a consonant.
28:18R.
28:19And a vowel.
28:21I.
28:22And a consonant.
28:23C.
28:24And a vowel.
28:26U.
28:27And a consonant.
28:31N.
28:32And another consonant.
28:34D.
28:36And a final vowel, please.
28:39Final, A.
28:41Last letter.
29:05MUSIC
29:13That's time. Florence?
29:14Seven.
29:15And Leo?
29:16Just a six.
29:17A six, Leo?
29:18Refund.
29:19And Florence?
29:20Uncared.
29:21Uncared.
29:22Yeah, uncared.
29:23Four, we would normally say, and in the dictionary, yeah.
29:26Uncared is in the dictionary,
29:28and Florence is into the last eight of Champion of Champions.
29:32APPLAUSE
29:35What a standard today.
29:36Absolute key moments throughout the game.
29:38One or two is all it takes.
29:40Richard, anything better?
29:41Can't beat it. There's more unwords.
29:43There's unfired. Unfried? I'm guessing not.
29:45Yeah, I think unfried.
29:47I like the idea of something unfried.
29:49Richard, you're playing like you play at home.
29:52Yeah, of course.
29:53Like he's a proper fan.
29:54Except Susie can now tell me if it's in the dictionary or not.
29:57I've got a lovely word for me for today's show, though,
29:59which is duncey-er.
30:00Duncey?
30:01Yeah, which is how I feel. More duncey. I don't think it's real.
30:03All right, what a contest today.
30:05And, Leo, listen, you can go for your life here on the numbers.
30:08What do you fancy?
30:09I'll go for four large, please.
30:10Yes, come on, Leo.
30:11One large. Go big or go home.
30:13Or go big and go home, sorry.
30:15Four.
30:16Too little.
30:17And mine are the final numbers of the day.
30:19Three, nine.
30:20And we've got 50, 100, 75 and 25.
30:24And this is for a bit of fun.
30:26587.
30:28587, last numbers.
30:33BELL
30:34BELL
30:35BELL
31:01587 with the four big, Leo.
31:04588, not written down.
31:06OK, one away. And Florence?
31:08I've got 587.
31:09Let's have it.
31:11100 minus 75 is 25.
31:13Here it is.
31:14Multiply by the other 25.
31:16625.
31:17Subtract 50.
31:18575.
31:19And add the nine and three.
31:20Very nicely done.
31:22And only a few seconds...
31:23APPLAUSE
31:26Sensational, Florence gets the 100 up.
31:29All that remains is to reveal today's Countdown Conundrum,
31:32so please get your fingers on the buzzers and let's do just that.
32:03BUZZER
32:06Florence with half a second left.
32:08Inactible.
32:09Let's take a look.
32:11It is not Leo.
32:14Finger back in the buzzer if you can be bothered.
32:18Here we go.
32:21That is a bomb note to go out on.
32:23But we have flummoxed both of you.
32:25I have to go to the man who bested everybody with the numbers.
32:29Did you get it?
32:30No, unless it's antiquable, which I suspect it's not.
32:33It was hard to see past that ending.
32:35Yeah.
32:36Rachel Riley.
32:38I mean, for the champion of champions,
32:40I'll be lucky if I know the word once it's revealed.
32:42Right, let's reveal it for everybody at home.
32:44If you got this, well done.
32:46Cantabile.
32:47Cantabile.
32:48Cantabile.
32:49Come on, let's have it then.
32:50It is a smooth singing style, which I don't have today.
32:54Smooth singing.
32:55Not a single one of us has that in this studio.
32:58But hitting the right notes today, Florence,
33:00that 100 puts you into the quarterfinals
33:02of the first champion of champions in five years.
33:05And that means it's getting real.
33:07We just need your husband, Sam, to win on Wednesday of next week
33:12and you'll be playing him.
33:13Yep.
33:14Let's not worry about that for now.
33:15How did you enjoy being back?
33:17I loved it, thank you.
33:18It was great to have you here.
33:19And Leo, what a shame.
33:20What a shame, because you did absolutely fantastic.
33:23She had some magic moments.
33:24Yeah.
33:25Yeah.
33:26Thank you for being here.
33:27Leo, well done.
33:28Florence, congratulations.
33:29APPLAUSE
33:32Well done.
33:33We are one step closer to having a live birth in this studio,
33:37which should be great for the ratings.
33:38How did you enjoy your Countdown debut?
33:40Oh, I mean, what a privilege to sit next to these two
33:42and watch that play out.
33:43It's like watching the Champions League,
33:45but, like, from the touchline.
33:47It's amazing, so congratulations, both of you.
33:49And Susie, don't say anything, just give me a thumbs up if you're OK.
33:52LAUGHTER
33:53Rest that voice, get the honey and lemon in.
33:55It just feels like just an easier afternoon
33:57when Susie can't talk, doesn't it?
33:59Well, I mean, plus we've got the Champion of Champions in,
34:02so I've got much to do in the way of numbers,
34:04and even if they don't get there, we've got Richard here,
34:06so a bit obsolete this week.
34:08And we love it.
34:09Less work for us, just all the joy.
34:11But listen, do not miss the next three weeks.
34:13As I said, 10 past two, this week, next week and the week after,
34:16it's just unmissable Countdown.
34:18We rarely do a Champion of Champions, and every day has a story.
34:22Tomorrow is that Series 80 rematch.
34:24Do not miss it.
34:25Rachel, Susie and I will be here in Countdown-us.
34:29You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com
34:33or write to us at countdownleads ls31js.
34:37You can also find our web page at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:45Channel 4's Full of Sunshine this afternoon
34:47will launch a pudding to prove popular in rural Portugal.
34:51A new life in the sun.
34:52The new series starts at four.
34:54Coming up, they have their sights set on a family-friendly holiday home in Almeria.
34:58It's the perfect place in the sun.
35:00Ready and waiting.
35:01Next.