With your weedy frame, rampant B.O. terrible comb-over and out-of-control nose-hair, you've no chance mate, give up now before you make a fool of yourself.

Stand aside, she shall be mine.

I had no idea that Jeff was leaving until I attended a Countdown audition yesterday in Edinburgh. We was told that if our audition was successful, we would appear on the show post-Jeff.

Does anyone know who the new presenter is?

Silly decision to axe Jeff after he said that he wanted to stay.

He is easily the best host since Richard and going for an unknown to take over might just kill the show dead.

They should appreciate how hard is to build a good team and the continuity was proving useful after so much recent upheaval. Last thing it needs is more change - especially with the mooted total unknown female host they are talking about.

Maybe Channel 4 are hoping to kill it off.

Right, that's it!! Secateurs at dawn, Wimbledon common.
And two points about my physique. First, how did you know I looked like that? Second, I'll have you know that Rachel finds my nasal hair a turn on. She says it gives her something to hang on to.

Be a good one for C5 to take it over, might mean Rachel wears even shorter skirts!

How about Bruce Forsyth?

'Maybe Channel 4 are hoping to kill it off'.

Would not surprise me. Then they could have another 45mins of DOND, FFS.

I shall be quite happy if Jeff leaves as I'm sick of hearing him sucking his teeth every two minutes. I read somewhere recently they are looking for a female presenter but I don't recall any particular names being in the frame.

I think Jo Brand has been mentioned, a disaster in the making. Might be amusing in dictionary corner, but I think she would be too much as the chair. And of course there's the ghost of Vorderman, surely the death knell, if not for the show, for Rachel. Vorders would be economic, though, doing all 4 jobs.

'We WERE told not We WAS told.' Sorry!!!!!

Can someone clear something up please I was under the impression Countdown was now made at Granada in Manchester but the address on screen says write to the Leeds LS3 1JS which is obviously the YTV studios.

Have the production team stayed in Leeds if so what is the point in that why have part of a team in Leeds and part of a team in Manchester.

Liza Tarbuck would get my vote! She presents much better than she acts!

There's nothing wrong with her acting! She went to RADA, as she never tires of telling everyone

...but how did the note get in the lemon?

Maybe some of the dowdy post menopausal TV presenters [ who will insist in NOT going away and retiring to their gardens ] like Angela Ripon, Jenny Bond, Fern Britton, Gloria Hunniford would suit the gig.

What we don't want is a female presenter who out-glams Rachel or Suzi.

I'm really disappointed to read Jeff could have stayed.

I'm a huge fan - he's my secret crush - well, not so secret now!

I think this could be it for me and Countdown.

I didn't like him or Rachel when they first started and stopped watching for a while, but they have grown on me now and I agree he is a good replacement for Richard, even if he does remind me of Dennis Healey.

He would be about the only host who would make me stop watching Countdown, Des O'Connor was bad enough but Forsyth would be the limit.

They should have let Jeff change his mind as he is a fantastic host and is perfect for the show.

Surely they are looking for a long term replacement an 83 year old man is hardly long term.

Yes, the silly thing is they have a (relatively) young host who does a great job and apparently wants to continue but are now looking for someone new because it seems someone has had their nose put out of joint.

I do apologise! The sentence originally read "I was told" and then I thought that it made me sound like I was the only person there, so I quickly changed the I to We but failed to proofread the rest.

I get annoyed when people do that - I'm hanging my head in shame!!!

This may cause a bit of debate, but I really do think it's time for a bigger change.

Since Richard Whiteley passed on, they have appointed hosts who have maintained the "unfunny humour" that Richard exhibited, but unlike him, Des, Des and Jeff lack his undeniable charm and are at times cringeworthy. The most recent cringeworthy example is when Jeff started singing the Hallelujah chorus!

I think the new host should present in their own style and not try to impersonate those who have gone before them. I also think the new host should still be a man to help maintain the gender balance in the presenting team. If they wish to appoint a female host, then there should be a man in charge of the letters and numbers.

I wouldn't mind seeing a change to the format. The original French show on which our version of Countdown is based use more rounds than just Letters, Numbers and Conundrum. They have extra little challenges included as well.

The only things that should never be changed is the stylish clock and related clock music.

I was going to post the same thing as the last post yesterday even going further and say after nearly 30 years maybe it's time to say "look maybe it's time to end it and look for a new game show of a similiar vein".

The producers are scared to do anything as even a small change causes uproar with fans any other game show of a similiar vein would have been updated by now by using a computerised letter generator, a computer to find the longest word and find the correct numbers game answer in fact with computerisation Countdown could be fitted into half an hour.

Countdown is a words and numbers game. In the past the guests were usually actors or writers. They usually had something witty and amusing to contribute in their three minute spot.

Now many of the guests are apparently not bright enough to prepare their own contribution. Many are sports personalities who subject themselves to a brief interview from Jeff Stelling, giving them an opportunity to reel of a list of their stunning achievements and not much more.

We never see the likes of Richard Digance, Giles Brandreth or Keith Barron any more. We see the occasional tennis player or 100 metres runner though !

Jeff Stelling is sport obsessed. He loves to mention that a contestant supports a particular football team. He reminds me of an old boss of mine who totally flabbergasted an elderly female colleague by asking her on her first day, which football team she supported.

Rachel obviously thinks it is hilarious that she has never heard of anything that Jeff mentions. I wonder if she actually works out the numbers games herself.

I very much enjoy the game of Countdown, but the presentation has been pretty darned poor since Jeff and Rachel took over.

Let's hope that the replacement will breath some life back into the show.

I went to see Countdown being filmed in 1996 and there was a bloke who helped Carol she talked with him during the clock countdown and he was the man who removed the old letters from the board he certainly discussed the numbers game with Carol while the clock was going whether he contributed to the sum solution I don't know.