Countdown (game show) Stelling was confirmed as the new host, with Oxford graduate Rachel Riley in the Vorderman role. It was announced on 24 May 2011 that Stelling would be leaving the programme, and he presented his final show on 16 December 2011. On 16 November 2011, it was announced that Nick Hewer would be taking over as host, with his first show broadcast on 9 January 2012. "Countdown" quickly established cult status within British television – an image which it maintains today, despite numerous changes of rules and personnel. The programme's audience comprises mainly students, homemakers and pensioners, owing to the "teatime"
Countdown (game show) having revealed the unusually short conundrum of HOGCAT to be "gotcha" at the end of the programme. In a 2003 episode of "Top Gear", Richard Whitely participated in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment. Before Whiteley's lap was shown, presenter Jeremy Clarkson played a game of "Countdown" with Whitely, using words such as IMIN, SEXUL, NEVOR LARD, I MUSHI BITS, and PIANOS SHIAZU. It was also referred to on "Harry Hill's TV Burp" twice. The first time it was referred to was when "Dev" ("Coronation Street") made a sound like the countdown end of thirty seconds time. The