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Countdown host Jeff Stelling to leave show | Countdown host Jeff Stelling to leave show |
(40 minutes later) | |
Countdown presenter Jeff Stelling is to leave after less than three years hosting the Channel 4 quiz show. | Countdown presenter Jeff Stelling is to leave after less than three years hosting the Channel 4 quiz show. |
Stelling told a Tenerife radio station he had resigned from the show to concentrate on his presenting role at Sky Sports where he will front Champions League coverage next season. | Stelling told a Tenerife radio station he had resigned from the show to concentrate on his presenting role at Sky Sports where he will front Champions League coverage next season. |
A Channel 4 spokeswoman said Stelling would continue to present the long-running show until the end of the year. | A Channel 4 spokeswoman said Stelling would continue to present the long-running show until the end of the year. |
She added discussions had already begun to find his replacement. | She added discussions had already begun to find his replacement. |
"You've really got to have your priorities and my priority is football, I love it, and Soccer Saturday, so I've committed myself very much to that next season," Stelling told Oasis FM. | "You've really got to have your priorities and my priority is football, I love it, and Soccer Saturday, so I've committed myself very much to that next season," Stelling told Oasis FM. |
The fourth person to front Countdown, Stelling joined the series in 2009 along with maths whizz Rachel Riley, replacing Des O'Connor and Carol Vorderman. | |
The host said he would miss working with Riley, adding: "I just felt I had to really try to focus on the things that I love." | |
Channel 4 said: "Jeff's had a brilliant three years on the show and we're sad to see him go." | |
Countdown was the first programme to be broadcast when Channel 4 launched in November 1982. | Countdown was the first programme to be broadcast when Channel 4 launched in November 1982. |
It was originally fronted by Richard Whiteley, who died in 2005, and Vorderman, who spent 26 years on the show. | |
Des Lynam took over as host following Whiteley's death and was then replaced by O'Connor in 2006. |
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