Rachel Riley "The Gadget Show," although her profile was significantly boosted by her appearance as a contestant on "Strictly Come Dancing", which largely "catapulted [Riley] onto the A-list" and opened up the doors for new television roles, according to another commentator. In 2014, two years before her role on "It's Not Rocket Science", she said, "I'd love to present a popular science programme because it's something I feel very passionate about." On "Countdown", Riley replaced the long-serving Carol Vorderman. Like Vorderman, Riley's role is to handle the placement of tiles on the board for the letters and numbers rounds and to find
Rachel Riley predicted Chile would win the 2014 FIFA World Cup, despite appreciating fans would see it as an unlikely outcome (Chile were ultimately knocked out in the Round of 16). Riley was married for 16 months to Jamie Gilbert, whom she met while they were both studying at the University of Oxford. After four and a half years together, the couple initially split at the end of 2009, before reconciling. Gilbert then proposed on her 25th birthday on 11 January 2011. They married on 11 August 2012. Although they married in a civil ceremony, Gilbert followed the Jewish tradition of stamping