Countdown star Rachel Riley was enjoying a night out with co-star Susie Dent when she feared the pair had committed a faux pas that wouldn’t go down well with drinkers
Matt Jackson Trendswatch Content Editor
12:00, 16 Jan 2026
Rachel Riley worried she ‘committed a hate crime’ in Dublin(Image: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)
Rachel Riley joked that she once committed a “hate crime” in Dublin during a night out with a Countdown colleague. The 40-year-old has starred on the hit Channel 4 show since 2009 when she replaced Carol Vorderman as the maths expert.
Rachel says she was “thrilled” to land the role shortly after graduating from the University of Oxford. She later went on to describe the Countdown role as the “only cool maths job around”.
Since joining the show Rachel has struck up a close friendship with Susie Dent, who presents the Dictionary Corner segment. Rachel says she was with Susie when she worries she committed a faux pas on a night out in Dublin.
She says the pair were spotted enjoying the Black Velvet cocktail, which consists of Guinness and a sparkling wine. On the Shoot Your Shot podcast, Rachel said: “It’s amazing. Guinness I like, but it is quite heavy, so the Prosecco or the Champagne really livens it up.”
She continued: “I went to Dublin with Susie Dent once, we did a little girls trip, and we were in a bar in Dublin having black velvets and it was basically a hate crime to some people. It was like a proper Marmite moment, will they love us, will they appreciate us, but it’s so good.”
Rachel appears on Countdown with Colin Murray and Susie Dent(Image: Channel 4)
Rachel says she first sampled the cocktail at a restaurant in London when she was on her first date with Strictly Come Dancing’s Pasha Kovalev. The pair competed on the show together in 2013.
The pair were eliminated fifth as model Abbey Clancy and professional dancer Aljaž Škorjanec went on to lift the famous Glitterball Trophy. Rachel and Pasha announced they were dating in December 2013.
They tied the knot in June 2019 in Las Vegas. The couple are now parents to daughters Maven and Noa.
Rachel and Pasha share two children together(Image: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty I)
Pasha last competed in Strictly in 2018, finishing runner-up with former Pussycat Dolls star Ashley Roberts. Speaking to Heat magazine, Pasha says it was the “right moment” to call time on his Strictly career.
“It was time to move on and I don’t regret it,” the 45-year-old explained. He says the “hardest thing” about being a professional dancer on the show is “saying goodbye” to each celebrity partner.
He added: “Part of your heart stays with that person, then the next year you have to find energy and more love to give to the next person.
“My heart was torn into pieces and given away to random people, so I had to make one of them my wife. Rachel said it was part of her Strictly contract.”
Rachel will return to screens from 2.10pm today (January 16) with Countdown, presented by Colin Murray, on Channel 4. She will later star in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown from 9pm on the same channel.
