The poor wee thing is looking a bit baggy under the eyes of late:

http://www.rachelriley.org/rachel-wa...c51c35e1c11dca

Working too hard? Not enough sleep?

Probably too much shagging



.

Ha ha.... when Rachel said to Nick today, "you must know Ricky Martin........# she bangs, she bangs # " and promptly went

Saw a bit of Countdown - don't think much of Nick as a presenter. Just not a natural presenter. Doesn't seem relaxed or cordial enough. Sorry, but he's a bit off-putting as a presenter. He should stick to The Apprentice.

There must have been better choices than him. How about a female presenter of Countdown? Someone like Sandi Toksvig?

so true he looks soooooooo old

The trouble with a female presenter is that it would then become too female dominated though even so I'd prefer Sandi to Nick. The chemistry seemed just perfect with Jeff, Rachel and Suzy, it's such a pity Jeff left as he was perfect for the job - maybe if Nick decides to leave they can rebuild the bridges between Jeff and the producer?

A strange game yesterday. Thankfully the challenger just lost - i couldn't have stuck him for another day! He was only picking letters but it was like he was making life-changing decisions.

Another chance to see the cute champion ...although he's not very good.

Today's episode was kinda strange. Both women were kinda intimidated by Nick.

And no one spot Jupiter in that letters round?

Rachel looked rather chesty today - and for that matter so did Susie, and the competitor in the red top too!

Jupiter isn't allowed as it's capitalised.

I hated it when Des I and II were on it(Just them not Carol), it was ok when Jeff was on it and with Nick now, IMO I think it's getting gradually better. Would have been better if Carol hosted it and would have been amazing if Richard was still with us as I imagine he would still be hosting it

oops I didn't know captialised words are not allowed
my bad

Oh, what happened behind the scenes? I assumed it was due to Jeff's sport commitments that he left.

Jeff resigned because of his additional sport commitments, then found that he could fit 'Countdown' in, after all. Unfortunately, it was too late (presumably because Nick had now been engaged)

I think Nick has improved and can be quite interesting. It wouldn't do for every presenter to have the same style.

However, I wish he wouldn't keep saying 'stand by'. It sounds quite out of place..

The way I heard it they hadn't engaged anyone else but the producer through a hissy fit because Jeff was "messing them around" and decided to find someone else anyway.

looking forward to seeing what Carol has to say about countdown on piers Morgan tonight

He is quite boring, but then he isn't even a tried-and-tested presenter, just a sidekick who pulls 'amusing' facial expressions from time to time.

It's a shame there was a disagreement with Jeff - he was by far the best of the replacement presenters.

How's Countdown rating these days?

Another nice wrap-around dress today with nice curve-enhancingness.

I was really worried about that as I thought it might come undone and fall open, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to look away in time.

I've always thought the format was pretty good but I wish they wouldn't go to such ridiculous lengths to try and kid us the show's live - even to the extent of making out it's a person's birthday on the day of transmission, presumably so that if anyone googles the person concerned the dates match.

The worst thing though is the way Susie Dent takes credit for words given to her through the earpiece. I've nothing against her getting help, I just wish she'd come clean about it instead of gloating in the applause.

Thanks for that, what it does show is Jeff obviously enjoyed it and that certainly came over with the rapport he had with everyone and the effortless way he presented it. Nick's watchable, but will always be the Headmaster, rather than the cheeky sportsman.

Absolutely..... and to think that it could have been improved from the outset had the amateurish bore Dick Whiteley not been host. Not content with this faux-pas, the producers also had to contend with Carol Vorderman muffing her lines and misreading the autocue, plus embarrassing herself (and the audience) by wearing clothes which a tweenager would have been embarrassed to wear.

Have you noticed that when someone's had a few successive "daily" wins, after about the 5th day (game), in a row - despite all that sleep they're definitely tired! Bigger words get missed and scores get lower!

Totally agree. I used to watch it but can't be bothered anymore.
I was flicking channels and caught a bit of it and Nick is completely wrong and makes it a gloomy and glum programme. He doesn't bring a relaxed, fun atmosphere to the programme which it needs and which the great Richard Whiteley made it.

Sandi Toksvig would be an excellent choice as she was great in that panel programme opposite the late Alan Coren.