Rachel Riley, 33, stepped into Carol Vorderman’s, 58, shoes on Countdown a decade ago when the latter stepped down from the role in 2008.
Since then, Rachel has been a familiar face on the Channel 4 quiz show and its late night sister show, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Due to the post-watershed time slot of the show, Rachel is often teased by host Jimmy, 46, but he was left taken-aback by her admission on tonight’s show.
Following her introduction, Jimmy joked about the red dress Rachel was wearing and then asked the avid football fan about her support of team Manchester United.
Rachel then recalled a story about a time she was met with some rowdy supporters, who took the opportunity to tease the Countdown star about taking over Carol’s role.
The Countdown star revealed she was on the tube at the time, with the chant going: “Rachel Riley is a red is a red.
“Rachel Riley is a red, she hates Carol,” the mathematician said, nervously giggling as Jimmy was seen in stitches.
After the lengthy introductions, the game then got underway, with panellists following up Jimmy’s quips about Rachel’s attire.
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Rachel sported a red dress, with a rather unique collar piece which resembled what would have been worn during the period of the Tudors.
Commenting on her fashion taste, Rachel said she looked more like a bearded dragon when she lifted up the collar piece.
READ MORE: Rachel Riley: Countdown guest hits out at host for being ‘bad at numbers’ after mishap
Taking to Twitter, viewers were also distracted by Rachel’s attire, with one posting; “Good to see @RachelRileyRR has come dressed as a Tudor #CatsCountdown.”
Another asked: “What’s that around Rachel Riley’s shoulders? #CatsCountdown.”
Although Rachel is prominent to the show, other viewers were in awe of comedians Alan Carr, 43, and Tom Allen, 36, being guests.
Commenting on the comedy duo, a third viewer wrote: “Think @AlanCarr and @tomallencomedy need their own show together — cracking up! #CatsCountdown.”
A fourth opined: “Tom Allen and Alan Carr on #CatsCountdown together are great!”
On last week’s show, Rachel was the one left stunned when Countdown co-star and Dictionary corner presenter Susie Dent, 54, spoke about the pair’s getaway to Dublin and joked about a “hot night” they had together.
Recalling the trip to Jimmy, Susie began: “We went to Dublin and we had a really good weekend.
“To cut a long story short at the end of the night we were looking for a late night chemist. As you do.
Susie went on to explain she was trying to get hold of a hot water bottle and was eventually given one by the pharmacist.
However, the hot water bottle was body length, to which Susie added Rachel joked to the pharmacist: “Susie likes a long one.”
“That was it really. That kind of summed up our evening. But we had a hot night. A warm night,” the Countdown star concluded.
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown is available on All 4.