Rachel Riley replaced by ‘brilliant mathematician’ and YouTuber on Countdown

Her replacement is a 'lovely guy.'

Rachel Riley replaced by ‘brilliant mathematician’ and YouTuber on Countdown
Rachel Riley is taking a short break from Countdown to work on another project (Picture: Channel 4)

Rachel Riley is taking a temporary step back from her Countdown duties – and her replacement has been revealed.

The Channel 4 maths whizz, 39, is taking a short break from the long-running show to work on another project.

While she is away, her friend mathematician Dr Tom Crawford will take over her duties.

Dr Tom is well-known for his Tom Rocks Maths YouTube account, where he has more than 200,000 subscribers, with some of his videos clocking up millions of views.

His YouTube videos see him make ‘elite mathematics teaching available to everyone’ and also feature the Equations Stripped series.

Dr Tom is also a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Cambridge’s Robinson College and according to his official website, has 15 maths-themed tattoos.

Her friend Dr Tom is temporarily replacing her on the Channel 4 show (Picture: Channel 4/Countdown/PA Wire)